When the special events planners hold a special event for themselves, you know it’s going to be special!

We first heard about the North Jersey chapter of the International Special Events Society (www.njises.org) a year ago, when Livingston’s own bubbly planner Joan Rothbard  (www.recreationpicnicservice.com), a loyal NJ My Way fan, sent us photos of the 2007 Dining Spaces event.  This year’s was held at Pines Manor in Edison last week.

The evening is actually a competition; each designer is given a table and ten chairs, and is judged by fellow event planners for creativity and style. You can watch the video and judge for yourself on NJ My Way .

All proceeds from Dining Spaces go to the Valerie Fund (www.thevaleriefund.org), the New Jersey organization that helps fight childhood cancers and supports patients and their families.

With dozens of party planners donating table settings, ideas abounded for creating an unforgettable themed party. A huge Monopoly board that featured the best of Jersey’s famous and infamous. Bubbles, champagne, and designer shoes on table tops as elegant dinner companions.  A kid’s party where eye-popping candy décor surrounded a glass table of bubblegum balls. And the biggest setting of all: a mystery dinner, complete with “dead” man under the table, a rich suspicious wife, and an annoying butler.

The art of table setting — it  makes the party fun, no matter what’s on the menu, or how the hosts behave!