April NACE meeting

May 13, 2014

We were honored to be the host planner for the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE) April meeting. There were so many wonderful vendors that donated their time and services to make this months meeting fun, educational, and all around southern. The Merrimon-Wynne house made the perfect backdrop for the “Shine on, Carolina Moon” meeting: A Lesson in BBQ, Moonshine, and Whisky!

Guests were treated to upscale southern food stations by Mitchell’s Catering and Events including a down home biscuit bar where they built their own biscuits from baked ham, lemon-garlic roasted chicken, and homemade pimento cheese! Bluegrass music by Old Habits filled the house while the guests moved from room to room.

For our educational portion of the meeting, the experts from Q-Shack led a hands-on BBQ sauce and rub demonstration where guests learned about the differences between western and eastern style BBQ while making their own BBQ sauce and rub to take home with them. We lined up two North Carolina distilleries who made the trip to Raleigh and taught us about whisky and moonshine. Tasting samples were provided from Defiant Whisky – Blue Ridge Distilling Co. and Broadslab Distillery Moonshine. The ladies from English Garden outdid themselves (as usual) with colorful flowers and vases atop fabulous linens by Party Reflections. For dessert we had a mini pie bar by Piebird with delicious flavors including Pecan Tassies, Honey and Sea Salt, and Lemon Ice Box.

It wouldn’t have been a party without corn-hole and a fun photobooth from Party N Post thanks to Kevin Milz Photography. Also, a big thanks to Joe Bunn DJ Company for supplying us with the sound for the event, and creative signage by Calligraphy by Carrie!

Thanks again, Kevin Milz Photography for these images from the meeting!