I had the pleasure of being asked to represent Get The Clicks and join the planning committee for the 4th Annual Ultimate Garden Party at the Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek resort, a fundraising event to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Get The Clicks has been a community sponsor of the event in previous years, and I had expressed an interest in joining the planning committee after attending the event last year. I, along with 14 other members of the community and the event planning team of Second Harvest embarked on the journey of planning another amazing fundraising event.
The planning for this event started in October of 2024 working to put together an afternoon of activities along with a luncheon that highlights the work that Second Harvest does in the community and to raise funds to keep that work going throughout the year. The committee helps to put together the activities, solicit donations for the silent auction, works with the community to get vendors for the day’s “Trunk Show” and helps to secure sponsorships for the event. Because this is an award winning event, there is always an expectation of excellence and sophistication.
There were months of meetings, both in person and virtual, for the committee to meet up and map out the details. Everything from what activities will be happening at the event, design of the space, the event set up and it’s execution day of. It was truly an eye opening experience into working with amazingly creative individuals in the community and the dedicated team from Second Harvest.
The weeks leading up to the UGP (as we referred to it) were met with picking up items for the silent auction, choosing which travel packages would go into the live auction, stuffing bags with items donated by the sponsors of the event and getting everything ready to be transported to the event space. We spent the day before the event setting up tables, working through lighting and presentations, setting the ball room, reviewing all the vendor placements and re-doing vendor placements. There were also A LOT of flowers courtesy of Blooming Glory – the floral sponsor this year! So many flowers everywhere! It smelled amazing in the staging area. We made sure all the tables in the ballroom were set up and a “goodie bag” is placed at the seat of each of the VIP tables. Tables got numbered and the Rose Garden area was staged with couches, pillows, tables and more of the amazing florals! We got all the silent auction items staged, photographed and then packed back up along with the Full Bloom display area and all the vendor tables situated before leaving for the night. We finished up around 9pm.
A group of us stayed at the resort so that we could be ready in the morning to set everything up. Bright and early on May 17th we met with our perspective teams and got to work on the set up so we could be ready for guests to arrive by 1pm. It was a lot of directing traffic. I did a lot of running back and forth to get things for the event coordinators while they were direct entertainment to where to set up which included live music, casino games from All In Casino Events, libation stations offering signature cocktails for the event, a live painter, a caricature artist and a tarot card reader. Not to mention the dancing and walking topiaries from Blue La La, the foliage wall of champagne equipped with its very own farmer and living flower, the trunk show vendors, a compliment bar where each compliment is delivered with a rose, as well as several photo booths and backdrops that wound around the outside of the ballroom. Screens around the venue displayed facts about the work of Second Harvest as well as displayed all of the sponsors for the event. The entrance was lined with rose petals and flower adorned signage.
The walkway lead everyone to the check-in area where each guest was greeted by yours truly and directed to one of the 14 volunteers who checked each guest in, provided them with their auction number for the live auction, a program of the events, a wrist band and a ticket to cash in for chips to play the casino games.
Guests were then able to walk through and check out the silent auction items that included staycation packages, gift baskets, artwork, jewelry, sports memorabilia and gift card bundles. All items were graciously donated by local area businesses and organizations throughout Central Florida. Further down the hall sat the amazing Full Bloom Giveaway! The Full Bloom is a treasure trove of items like luggage, gift baskets, sports equipment, wine, spirits, sports equipment, kitchen items and other amazing items donated from the community, committee, and all of the amazing trunk show vendors! Guests could purchase a key on a colored ribbon that gives them the chance to open the door to the Full Bloom closet and win the entire lot of items! It’s worth well over $5000! Around the corner from the Full Bloom was the display of the amazing libations pull. The libations pull is part of the live auction during the luncheon event. As guests hold up their number, it is listed in the order in which they are recognized and they essentially purchase the bottle attached to the number on the list in which their number was recognized. These bottles can be anywhere from $40 – $500 in value! All of the bottles in the libations pull are generously donated from not only the committee but also the beverage sponsors, ABC Liquors and Tito’s Vodka.
The luncheon event started with a little dance from the farmer and his flowers. Then, the president of Second Harvest, Derrick Chubbs, gave a speech while food was served. The emcees for the evening, Michelle Imperato and Jesse Pagan from WESH Channel 2 did an amazing job of giving information about the impact that Second Harvest has on the Central Florida community and all the work that goes into helping families. One of the many families that received assistance from Second Harvest was able to share their story and the impact that it was able to have on their family. They were also able to attend the event and express their gratitude for all the help they received. This was followed by a toast to all who attended and have helped to keep the mission going. Then starts the live auction! This portion of the program starts with the Libations Pull where all 100 bottles were claimed! The program then moves to the Vacation Packages. The room always becomes electric with people bidding for amazing vacation packages including trips to Hawaii, Ireland, Costa Rica, France, Italy, California, Iceland, and the most popular trip, the African Safari! There is also an option to bid for the coveted Rose Garden which includes prime seating, hotel stay and the VIP treatment at next year’s event for up to 8 people. Not to mention there is an amazing in home dinner package for 15 people where a private chef comes to your home and cooks an amazing meal that is up for bid. Normally the last in the live auction series is the Gift From The Heart which allows for donations from $5000-$100 with it ending up with the always exciting “Last Bid” which challenges someone to be the last person to bid $100 before the auctioneer closes out the bidding. That person wins a 2 night hotel stay at the Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek! It’s always an exciting time! This year, the final auctioned item was a Live Painting that was created during the event by local artist, Lemus.
The event closes with the Full Bloom! Everyone who purchased a key waits to see if the ribbon that their key is on is one part of the group that contains the key to open the door! This year, every single key was sold before the program started! As for what color ribbon had the winning key – it was the white ribbon keys and the 5 people who had those keys came on stage. The first person who tried the lock opened the door this year and won the prize! We usually have a little more suspense with this, but it was still exciting to see the winner open the lock!
Then, all the guests proceed to the check out area to pick up the prizes they have won during the event and we got to thank everyone for attending! After the last guest picks up their prizes – that’s when the real fun begins – Clean Up! Thankfully we had an amazing crew of volunteers that made this a super quick process this year! All of the trunk show vendors were able to break down while the program was going on in the ballroom, so it was really just making sure that any unclaimed auction prizes were boxed up, all the tables were cleared and any of the items that were brought in to stage the event are packed up and transported back to the staging area to be loaded on to the trucks the next morning. We had a final huddle where we were told that the event was a huge success and looked to have surpassed last year’s totals. A final group photo and we were off to either our room upstairs or the parking area to head home!
The best part was meeting a few weeks following the event to learn just how successful it was and just have one more time to hang out with the team! We were able to go over the information from the event, including a breakdown of the funds raised. We even did a little team building project and created a mini charcuterie board! The committee reviewed a short slide show with the breakdown of the event and responses to the surveys that were sent out. And, you guessed it – the event was an amazing success, raising well over $250,000 which equates to 1.5 Million Meals going back out into the community!!! That’s a lot of people who will be able to put a meal on the table for their family and take a little stress off their shoulders! It was a great experience to be part of something that benefits the community in such an impactful way. The team from Second Harvest also gave out really cute awards that they felt best personified each person and their helpfulness and approach to the event. I am grateful that Get The Clicks allowed me to be part of not only this event that we sponsor each year, but I got to work together with some amazing members of the community who are just as passionate about helping others.
It’s always great when you work for a company that is actively working in the community we live in to help those who need it. And what better way than supporting organizations that make a difference and lend a helping hand! I can’t wait to see how awesome the 5th Annual Ultimate Garden Party is going to be! Stay tuned to find out more about it!!! Interested in finding out how you can help? Visit feedhopenow.org for more information.
