I’m not going to lie. When I opened the doors of Cafe Grenadine at 2pm on Saturday 5 November and saw 30 gorgeous faces smiling at me, it was a bit overwhelming.
Everyone who joined me for an afternoon of food, fashion and fun while raising money for The Pyjama Foundation was just so lovely. And there they all were, looking as happy and excited as I was to be there. It was at that very moment that I knew we were going to be in for one fabulous afternoon.
We kicked things off with a glass of bubbles and a delicious smoked salmon brioche slider. Everyone mingled, chatted and found a seat.
Goodie bags filled with lovely gifts from very generous businesses were placed on each seat for guests to take home.
Thank you Renee Loves Frances for the earrings, L’OCCITANE en Provence Westfield Garden City for the sample packs, MooGoo for the product packs, Stephanie’s Vintage Day Spa for the Gift Card, Soy Vella Candles for the Lemongrass and Cucumber candles and Nicole for the framed prints.
As this was a charity event, with all money raised going directly to The Pyjama Foundation, guests were encouraged to get their phones out and use the hashtag #coffeewithkirsten
The aim was to raise as much awareness of the event as possible on social media so we can do it all over again in 2017. I am so grateful to those guests who shared photos during and after the event.
If you’re on Instagram, check out the hashtag – there are so many photos there that captured the day beautifully.
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea was served and it was AMAZING. Marilyn, the owner of Cafe Grenadine, did a fabulous job at creating and plating up all of the delicious desserts.
Warwick and Simon, our waiters for the afternoon, kept things running smoothly in the cafe. If you live in Brisbane and haven’t been to Cafe Grenadine before, you need to get yourself there ASAP. The food, coffee and service is outstanding.
During afternoon tea I mingled with everyone while also selling raffle tickets. With over $1,000 worth of prizes so generously donated by local Brisbane businesses, the raffle tickets were snapped up in no time!
Style Workshop
I then ran a style workshop where I bought this swimsuit blog post to life.
We had a lot of laughs during this session and sharing my styling tips with everyone was so much fun. I encouraged everyone “to just get in the water” this Summer and I really hope everyone does.
My workshop concluded with gifts for everyone:
- a thank you card,
- a print featuring a quote I referenced during the workshop and
- a Kirsten and co. branded bar of chocolate. Thank you to Sweet Scarlet Designs for kindly donating the artwork for the chocolate.
There was also a bit of an Oprah moment for three lucky guests who discovered an envelope hiding in their gift bag….
Vignette Workshop
Nicole from the blog The Builder’s Wife showed us how to put together a vignette using items you have in your home. Nicole did a fantastic job at showing us how easy it is to take everyday items from drab to fab in a few simple steps.
At the conclusion of Nicole’s workshop a vignette pack full of gorgeous items kindly donated by Provincial Home Living (Jindalee) was given away as a lucky door prize.
The Prizes
It was then time to draw the lucky winners of the prizes.
Here are the amazing prizes that were up for grabs:
Lunch for Two thanks to Cafe Grenadine
Four Express Car Details thanks to Cargroomers
Smells Like Heaven Face Wash thanks to Coastal Elixir
A gorgeous hand cut framed art piece from Cut Our Own Path
Four beautiful cushions thanks to Hamptons Home (formerly Junie Living)
Longerpants gift voucher thanks to Hummingbird Pie
L’OCCITANE gift hamper thanks to blog reader Michele (L’OCCITANE Garden City)
$100 gift voucher and a Bird of Paradise clutch thanks to Renee Loves Frances
Tassel earrings and scarf gift pack thanks to Ruby and Lilli
$100 gift voucher thanks to SFH Designs
Gift voucher thanks to Stephanie’s Luxury Day Spas
After the prizes were handed out it was time to relax, chat and enjoy a coffee. The room was buzzing with conversation and laughter. It was such a fun afternoon with everyone requesting we do it again soon.
Thank you
I am truly grateful for the love and support everyone gave to this event.
Thank you to all of the businesses who so generously donated a prize or goodie bag item. I know the gorgeous Kirsten and co. community will return the love by following your social media pages and/or purchasing from you.
Thank you to Scott for lifting all of the things. Seriously, you should have seen our living room the week before the event. It was covered in goodie bags, prizes, clothes and checklists. You couldn’t see the dining room table or the floor! And then, the night before the event I realised I had to actually get it all into the car then get it from the car to the cafe in 35 degree heat.
I’m no princess and I’m not afraid of hard work, but I didn’t want to fling open the doors to my very first event with makeup sliding off my face! So Scott stepped in and packed everything into my car with military precision. He then followed me to the venue, unpacked everything, carried it all inside and left. He is SUCH a good man.
A huge thank you to Kylie from DIY Decorator who stepped in at the last minute and took photographs for me throughout the event. It was so kind of Kylie to do that, particularly as she usually photographs beautiful homeware pieces and not women who insist on moving around while talking to their audience*.
*I may or may not be referring to myself 😉
Finally, thank you to the gorgeous guests who snapped up a ticket and joined me at the inaugural Coffee With Kirsten charity event. It was so lovely having you there on Saturday. You were such an incredible group of women – so friendly and so supportive. Thank you for making Saturday the huge success that it was.
Money Raised
Right, if I could get a drum roll please, because the final tally is in!
My goal for Coffee With Kirsten was to raise $1,000 for The Pyjama Foundation.
I’m thrilled to announce that we have smashed that goal and raised a grand total of….
$1,467*
HOORAY!
*full disclosure: This amount has been reached via raffle ticket sales on the day and the profit from ticket sales to the event (after deducting the cost of afternoon tea and the eventbrite fee from each ticket) No other expenses have been deducted from ticket sales. I covered any additional expenses personally – champagne, gifts given at the conclusion of my workshop, thank you gifts given after the event etc.
Like to read more?
Some of my blogging friends have written posts about their Coffee With Kirsten experience. You can read them here:
Styling A Vignette & A Coffee With Kirsten by Nicole, The Builder’s Wife
Coffee With Kirsten – An Afternoon Tea Mingling With Friends and Raising Money For A Great Cause by Bec, Styled By Bec
Oh and one last thing…
If you had a great time at this event or had serious FOMO watching it unfold, get your diary out because plans for the next event are already underway.
Saturday 22 April 2017
Champagne (and hopefully some shopping) With Kirsten is happening!
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