2021 is off to a great start! On January 4th, 2021 we hosted the celebration party for Utah’s newest Governor, Spencer Cox. In addition to his inauguration, Utah also celebrated its statehood with Thrive 125, fireworks were set off from the State Capitol, as well as simultaneously across 29 counties. It was a stunning celebration! 

With COVID numbers on the rise we knew we had to make this event as safe as possible when planning our menu. We wanted to showcase Utah with our cuisine, but also wanted to make items easily accessible for guests. We made the decision to individually package and label each station, which made serving the guests easy, safe, and fun! Our menu featured four food stations and a beverage station.

We started off with our Utah’s Own Charcuterie. It featured meats and cheeses from local award winning artisans, including selections from Beehive Cheese Company, Heber Valley Cheese, Park City Creamery, and Creminelli, garnished with local honeycomb, fruit, and pickles, and was served with housemade artisan lavash crackers. 

Next up we had our slider station! We had our Smoked Turkey Slider made with regional turkey, local pistachios, celery, onions, herbs, and a creamy cider vinaigrette, served on a local Slide Ridge Honey bun. We paired the sliders with housemade root vegetable chips seasoned with sea salt.

For our soup bar we paired our most popular soups together, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with créme fraîche and our Utah Cheddar Ale Soup, made with local Wasatch Brewery beer and paired with housemade pretzels. 

We saved the best for last… DESSERT! We showcased our award-winning Utah Lemon Honey Beehive Cake, served with chantilly cream, crushed sea foam brittle, garnished with white chocolate honeycomb, and local Slide Ridge Honey. But the showstopper on this station was the large custom beehive cake on display! 

For our beverage station we made sure to maintain individually packaged drinks. We offered bottled water, canned soda, and warm beverages poured for guests after they were outside watching the firework show. 

What firework show, you ask? Thrive 125! January 4th, 2021 was the 125th anniversary of Utah’s statehood and it was celebrated with fireworks across the state! Shows in 29 Utah counties range out simultaneously, while our guests and team members watched the most amazing firework show from the steps of the Utah State Capitol Building!

We loved the thrill of producing a large full-service event again, and overcoming the challenges that COVID presented by serving only individually packaged items was a blast!  All staff members who produced this event, as well as all guests, were tested for COVID before arriving on site. Additionally, the LUX team was fully equipped with gloves, face masks, and face shields. 

We’re ready for more safe events like this, bring it on 2021!

Happy Pie and Beer day, friends! (aka Pioneer Day, the day the Pioneers settled in Utah.) We wanted to celebrate today by sharing a DELICIOUS apple pie recipe paired with a local beer! 

We paired our apple pie with Wasatch Brewery’s, Ghost Rider IPA. It’s a dry-hopped IPA with a juicy citrus flavor that melds perfectly with the cinnamon apple flavoring of the pie!

We hope you have a safe holiday, and enjoy some pie and beer!

Pro tip – have your pie with a cold scoop of ice cream!

Congratulations – you’re engaged! It’s such an exciting whirlwind right after saying YES!

Post guest written by Sarah McClure Photo

Once the elation of the proposal has calmed down a new emotion may set in… Panic. Panic about where to begin, what to even start planning, how to find the right vendors. Oh heck, how do I do this!? 

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! Here are a few things to narrow in on in the months leading up to your wedding. Keep in mind, if you are looking to hire a wedding planner they should be able to help you with all of these things!

Your very first decision, besides date, should be deciphering what three things are the MOST important to you on your wedding day. By taking a moment to figure out these points you can help set yourselves a budget. Maybe your top three things are photography, wedding dress, and catering – from here you can work on getting bids from your dream vendors and know what you need to adjust and plan for to make those happen. 

Once you’ve decided on a budget you can start the planning process! You’ve got your date, now you need your where. One of my favorite venue resources is the LUX Venue Page! There are over 100 venues on this list and each one includes basic information about the venue and what they provide. Once you’ve narrowed in on a handful you can start reaching out to them, setting up site visits, and planning your date with them. Some venues provide tables, chairs, and linen rentals, make sure to ask about this in your planning process. Otherwise it may be an additional cost that you didn’t budget for.

After you’ve narrowed down your venue it’s time to start planning your vision! Here’s where you start including vendors. LUX is obviously my go-to first vendor to contact for many reasons! The biggest reason is because they are able to help with anything design and decor related, they’re not just food! I am a big fan of being able to hire and coordinate the smallest amount of vendors possible, so having LUX be able to do the food, china, linens, florals, cake, bar service, and more, makes it soooo easy. They also offer a complimentary taste test where you can come in, try your menu served on the china you want, see your floral arrangements, etc! 

Aside from venue, catering, and decor here are some of the other vendors you may want to consider! 

• Photographer
• Videographer
• Florist
• DJ
• Officiant
• Invitation Suite Designer 
• Hair and Makeup Artist
• Day of Coordinator

The vendors you select should be able to help you in more ways than one on your wedding day, and they definitely should not add to your stress level! LUX is a great resource for keeping you on schedule when it comes to the backend, things like starting bar service for you at the selected time, starting dinner without being told, clean up, etc. Someone like me, aka your photographer, should be there to keep you on track in other aspects! Things like knowing how long we have for photos before we need to move into cocktail hour, and then dinner, and dancing, etc. When narrowing down your vendors find people that you vibe with and that you want to spend time with on your special day! 

I hope this helps narrow down some of the choices you’ll need to make when it comes to your wedding day! The biggest thing to remember is that this is YOUR day – you and your partners! It is a day meant to celebrate the love that you two share, let your personalities shine through, and make sure you take the time to enjoy it. You can’t re-do it! 

If you have any additional questions not covered in this blog post you can always reach out to me via Instagram or my website! LUX is also easily reachable via Instagram and their contact form!