Oct 21, 2007

Unique floral designs 'High Note' of luncheon

By Adria Murray / Society Columnist

When planning the perfect holiday spread, many hostesses look to complement the fruits of their culinary labors with equally lovely and tasteful table settings.

Under the tutelage of San Francisco-based floral designer Jun Pinon, lunching ladies at Monday's "Holidays on a High Note" home entertaining event learned ways to merge food and decor, elevating those fruits from the plate to the center of imaginative floral arrangements.

The signature event of Foothill Auxiliary, benefiting Family Service Agency of San Mateo County, "Holidays on a High Note" celebrated its 10th anniversary with a splash of dazzling table settings and top-notch floral designs at Atherton's Menlo Circus Club.

During the floral presentation, Pinon used grapefruits, limes and bell peppers as an "oasis" or center point from which flowers appeared to sprout. Four square votives, four limes and four white orchid stems were used to create a fun minimalist centerpiece, and elsewhere a branch of winterberries plunged upside-down into a narrow three-foot-tall vase became the root structure for a grapefruit, out of which a sunburst of anthuriums emanated.

But Pinon didn't have a corner on the market of creative ideas. More than 25 local designers created elegant and elaborate table settings that were featured in the venue's showroom. Each centerpiece from the show tables was put up for auction.

Together founding event chairwomen and designers Kris Forbes and Andi Mallinckrodt (of Woodside's Pomegranate Events and Floral Design) created two different tables for the showroom, including one that featured "green" decorating ideas. By gathering moss themselves from a riverbank and repainting a dresser drawer that was inverted and used as a podium, Forbes and Mallinckrodt proved that stylish decorating doesn't have to break the bank. For them, refashioning is very in fashion.

Family Service President Laurie Wishard was pleased to see the overcapacity crowd (more than 300 ladies) enjoying themselves, and to see many of the dedicated Foothill Auxiliary members, including Leigh Ann Bandet, Jennifer Levey and Vivienne Virani (all of whom were the highest bidders on several of Pinon's live demonstration arrangements).

"Foothill works really hard to put this on," Wishard said. She added that many of the auxiliary members not only help raise funds but volunteer directly with the children at Family Services' Haven Child Development Center, where children of homeless and low-income families are provided with preschool, child care and housing. Last year Family Services assisted 18,000 people in San Mateo County.

Among the attendees seen admiring the tables and shopping at the boutique booths were Foothill Auxiliary President M.E. Simon, Hillsborough Auxiliary founding member Ruth Wisnom, 10-year participant Denise Kirksey of Shelby's Garden and Family Services board member and Valley Auxiliary member Nancy Veitch.

In conjunction with the previous night's Jazzy Preview Party co-hosted by the Valley Auxiliary, "Holidays on a High Note" raised in the ballpark of $35,000 for Family Services, Mallinckrodt said.



Adria Murray's society column appears every Sunday in the Daily News. For consideration, please send event information to 324 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94301, or e-mail amurray@dailynewsgroup.com or call 650-327-9090, ext. 328.