Wow! I am still catching up from Alt Summit and am so happy to finally share the details of The Hello Social! This party was in the works for quite some time, and now that’s it’s over, I’m so happy we did it! It was created for all new attendees to Alt Summit but lots of veterans showed up too! Melissa and I were absolutely overwhelmed by the turnout. Lots of people! At West Elm! At a party we threw! Heck yeah!

It was held at the beautiful new West Elm in the City Creek Shopping Center in SLC. Now, I have been to a lot of West Elms. I love them. I feel a kinship to that store. And Salt Lake City was breathtaking. They have a gorgeous loft in the middle of the store and decor from floor to ceiling. I have to admit, I was more interested in stealing some cake plates than setting up for the party! Good thing I’m an honest person and was taught to never steal. No matter how much you want to….. 😉

We worked very closely with the store manager, Liz, and the rest of the staff to get all of the details ironed out. Those people know just what they’re doing and they become instant friends with you! They were so fun to hang out with at the event, and afterward during the cleanup! Good conversations were had.

Now, there are a LOT of photos and there is a LOT of information below. I suggest you read on. 🙂

 Smilebooth was there! Did we tell you that?!? Every party should have a photobooth and this one was super fun. Melissa made a bunch of signs, and Holly from Say Hello Shop created this magnet board to convey messages! (If you were at the party, view your photos here.)

A few photos snagged from the #hellosocial instagram feed. Go check that out! It’s fun to see what everyone was up to!

 photo via Patti Murphy

Culinary Crafts was amazing and sent us two caterers to help with keeping the food stocked. Those guys rocked my world. They were so helpful and we made sure they got some snacks on their way out!

People. The weather was FREEZING. So we had a hot chocolate bar with the most delicious chocolate sticks provided by The Ticket Kitchen. You know, the famous company who invented hot chocolate on a stick? Genius. Delicious. Dangerous. All in one. I made sure to take a stick or two for myself. There were four flavors to choose from: Vanilla Mint, Bolivian Bittersweet, Spiced Ginger, and Belgian Milk. All were super tasty, but I was partial to the bittersweet. We had several syrups and toppings to add so people were making mega hot chocolates. It was so awesome!

A party without food is like a circus without elephants. You need ’em! Les Madeleines (a renowned bakery in SLC famous for making everything from scratch) generously provided the treats at The Hello Social. They’re most famous for their Kouing Aman which was DE-licious. Guys, I’d never had it before. I’m not that classy. I grew up in a farmy town. And the goodies from the bakery were so phenomenal that I’m crying as I type these words. There were Cinnamon Scones. There was Monkey Bread. There was Pain Au Chocolate. And there were French Macarons. It was an event for bloggers so, naturally, the macarons went first. Chef Romina definitely knows how to work a pastry. If you happen to live in or are visiting Salt Lake City, stop by Les Madeleines and say “hello” to the fantastic people over there. Click here to view their menu! Classy stuff! I’m ready to go back and order more Pain Au Chocolat. Give me a chocolate croissant anyday.

Sarah Fritzler is the awesome designer behind our invitation. She was extra awesome and created little tent cards identifying all of the treats and goodies. The girl is talented!

And let’s just talk about Geronimo Balloons and how utterly awesome they are. Jihan is fantastic and donated these MEGA balloons for the bash! The fringe was seriously so fun to play with. We attached them to giant dowel sticks and placed them all over the store. They made fun props for photos!

We made sure to give out favors to our attendees! The first 125 through the door got one of these awesome bags filled with all the goods below:

That telephone print was made by Erika of Foxtrot Press. It’s very high quality and is oh so cute when framed! Those wooden hello signs were given to every blogger by Holly of Say Hello Shop. You can paint them, but I’m partial to the natural look. Vintage Whites included some shopping passes for the market in March! Guys, they are on the map! They have a super fun event planned with Ruche next month! Those two heart prints are by Caravan Shoppe! Alma & Melanie (the designers) shared their versions of the same type of project! We gave some awesome temporary tattoos designed by Kristie Garner. I’m wearing mine today! And Vintage Confections gave everyone a coupon to buy some pretty fancy candy. I maybe took a handful of those coupons for myself.

Everybody got a cute “hello”-themed pencil and Wishy Washi Tape gave everyone a roll of washi tape! I know. I know. Blogger’s dream gift, right?

We also had these sturdy “hello” totes from Whimsybags! We gave these out to all of the staff at West Elm and as a “thank you” to a few other contributors! We filled them with more of the goodies in our other favor bags and people loved them! They’re so pretty. Brittni used hers throughout Alt to carry all of the goods she was receiving!

More Insta shots from the feed.

 Look at all these cuties in the Smilebooth!

 Even the girls from Craft Lake City stopped by to check it out!

 Michelle Edgemont and Jenny Solar doin’ their thang.

Oh man. These girls were my fave. Brittni, Ashley, and Kelly pictured here using mustache forks from Sucre Shop!

We had a few awesome door prizes that were given away to randomly selected winners.

Michelle Dwight gave this adorable pillow to one lucky attendee! She also donated this cute pillow too!

Little French Bakery donated a super sweet baguette pan! If you wanted to be French, now’s your chance.

West Elm was even more awesome than possible and donated three adorable screen printed tote bags. Again, wanted to steal, but didn’t.

Cricut was totally awesome and donated three THREE Cricut machines! What the?!?! Tan of Squirrelly Minds was one of those lucky winners and created a short video on the Vine app to show her awesome prize!

Amy Sullivan donated one of her lovely prints!

For The Makers blew us away and donated four make boxes to four lucky attendees! For The Makers is a subscription service that sends you boxes in the mail filled with supplies to make charming DIY projects! Why do I want to steal everything?!

See those cute “hi” stickers? They were created by Emily of Sparrow Nest Script specifically for everyone attending. Who doesn’t love stickers? She followed our invitation design (designed by the wonderful Sarah Fritzler!) and printed out these adorable stickers that I had a hard time letting go of. Emily had so many fun designs it was hard to choose which one we wanted. I mean, take a look at this colorful stationery!

Guys. I’m going to tell you something bad. I planned to order wooden utensils weeks before the event. I even had the window open on my computer to checkout. And you know what? I never completed the order. And then a few days before I left for SLC, I realized that I never ordered them. Enter: emotional meltdown. Seriously. My poor husband. He got the brunt of most of my planning-stress. We were totally in a bind. And guess who stepped in and saved me! Brooke from Sucre Shop! I will forever hold her in my highest esteem. She was a total lifesaver and sent enough forks and spoons for everyone to enjoy. And they were decorative! I was just going to order plain and boring wooden utensils, and she sent us super cute ones! Shut the front door. <—- That’s what I said. Visit Brooke’s shop to check out all the cute party utensils she has to offer. That girl is my fave.

Kristie Garner designed these little questionnaires to help all the bloggers start some convos! Complete with a few challenges to help meet new people, these were definite ice-breakers.

 The utensils. In all their glory.

To make sure each attendee knew who rocks, Sarah Khandjian of Sarah Hearts created these sponsor cards to give to each attendee. We could not have had such a rockin’ event without everyone who contributed! So if you went to The Hello Social, please reach out to these guys and give them a virtual hug or shout out! They totally deserve it!

A HUGE thanks to all of our sponsors and contributors! We could not have created this event without any of you!

• West Elm
• Les Madeleines
• Ticket Kitchen
• Smilebooth
• Say Hello Shop
• Little French Bakery
• Wishy Washi Tape
• Foxtrot Press
• Geronimo!
• Amy Sullivan Illustration
• Michelle Dwight Design
• SparrowNestScript
• For the Makers
• Vintage Confections
• Whimsybags
• Vintage Whites Market
• Caravan Shoppe
• Sucre Shop
• Sarah Fritzler
• Kristie Garner
• Sarah Khandjian

Now, I am going to go sleep until March…

photo creds: all photobooth photos by Smilebooth, Instagram shots pulled from app, pillow from Michelle Dwight Designs, all other photos by The Proper Pinwheel