We most certainly love getting these notes from clients after we have designed a party for them. Their note of excitement, amazement and gratitude makes our job all the more worthwhile.

“Brian – Many, many thanks for an outstanding job!! The decor last night was truly amazing! Everyone was raving about how beautiful the tents looked. The place card table was so creatively done and gorgeous!!! -Mary Parenti, Co-chair for the Ball on The Square”

These images were taken at Thursday’s prestigious Ball on The Square gala, an event we have designed for 27 out of its 30 years of galas. For this year’s celebration we went back to the beginning with an ode to formal gardens, classic architecture and elegant outdoor events. The Ball on The Square is always held in the heart of Rittenhouse Square on the 3rd Thursday of June.  This year’s gala, hosted by Mary Parenti and Rich Castor & Lynn and Howard  Shecter, was particularly special as it was a celebration of both the 30th annual ball but also the 100th anniversary of Paul Cret’s elegant design of the park.

If the name is unfamiliar, let us introduce you to Paul Philippe Cret, the French-American architect and industrial designer who for more than 30 years headed up  the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. As a prolific and influential architect, Cret co-designed (with Jacques Greber) the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as well as the Rodin Museum. He also built the Delaware River Bridge, now known as the Ben Franklin Bridge, as well as the Barnes Foundation Gallery, the Memorial Arch at Valley Forge, and Rittenhouse Square. Further afield Cret’s designs include the Pan American Union building and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., and the campuses of Brown University and the University of Texas at Austin.

A true visionary who inspires us every single day, if only in the creation of a place card table for a party celebrating his work.