Consider the possibilities for one heck of a wedding reception when two event planners marry each other.
Rocky Toomey and Terry Mulryan Toomey, general manager and president respectively of Future Affairs Productions, are used to planning parties and other lavish events for other people because that is what the couple does every day at their East Providence-based business.
The main part of the business is a warehouse, tucked away in a sprawling, old factory complex off Roger Williams Avenue, with 25,000 square feet on two floors, chock-full of some of the strangest things you’ve ever seen gathered in one place.
Palm trees made of feathers jostle for space with a 5-foot-tall replica of an Oscar statue. On the balcony above, there’s John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Bill and Hillary Clinton, all in a row – life-size cardboard cutouts used for decoration. Lifeguard chairs, gazebos, park benches, ship railings, pillars, mannequins, carousel horses and playing cards 3-feet high are among the unusual items packed into their warehouse.
Focusing they say on “customer service, a fair price and quality,” the couple and their eight employees plan parties for individuals, businesses, nonprofits, universities and conventions. They can work with small businesses like caterers, restaurants and hotels on a special event such as an awards presentation or transform a special place in the business, like a dining or conference room, into the setting for a party.
“We can develop complete sales kits for a small business,” Terry said, planning for instance how a company might best use its space to hold an open house. “We can do everything from creating a theme for a coffee-break room to building a whole stage and setting the tables” for an extravaganza in a hotel ballroom, she said. The warehouse is a favorite stop for movie and television producers making films in Rhode Island.
The highly assorted paraphernalia that fill their warehouse come from a variety of sources. Some of it is bought at secondhand or antique stores. Some is adapted for reuse over and over in what the Toomeys call their own version of creative recycling. But most of it is made right there in the construction department of the warehouse. So if the Toomeys do not have what a customer wants, they will build it or they will find it. “We will hunt for our customers,” Terry said.
Rocky is a Pennsylvania native and Terry grew up in the Boston area. They met at a special-events convention in the 1980s when she won a contest for performing the best singing telegram. At the time, she owned a balloon- and gift-delivery company in Boston and he worked for a balloon maker in Hawaii, selling balloons all over the world. Established in Boston in 1983, their business outgrew two buildings before moving to Valley Street in the Olneyville section of Providence in 1995, and then to even larger quarters in East Providence six years ago.
Although the couple had known each other for years, it was not until two years ago that they married at Terry’s home on Johnson’s Pond in Coventry, at a back yard wedding like no other. It was a Hawaiian-Irish affair, with Irish step dancers and Polynesian dancers. Fresh orchids were shipped in from Hawaii and, for favors, the 160 guests received genuine Hawaiian leis. Rather than a tent – too common for professional event planners, after all – they crafted large panels of white linen that were rigged between the trees to create a natural-looking ceiling without poles. Theatrical lighting and paper lanterns illuminated a wooden dance floor. The bride and her attendants arrived by boat and the 12-hour event ended with fireworks glittering over the pond.
As a result, the Toomeys and Future Affairs Productions won the 2009 Gala Award for Best Wedding with a budget under $1,000 per guest at The Special Event Show in July in San Diego, Calif. The annual show is sponsored by Special Events magazine and honors what the magazine said is the best work in special events. Yes, it was one heck of a wedding. •
COMPANY PROFILE
Future Affairs Productions
OWNERS: Rocky and Terry Toomey
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Event design, management and planning company
LOCATION: 310 Bourne Ave., East Providence
EMPLOYEES: 8
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1983
ANNUAL SALES: WND
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