2023 Wedding Venue Map Summer Road Trip Party: WVMU Campus Tour

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This year we hosted our favorite event of the year, our summer road trip party, to celebrate another amazing wedding season at the Historic Venue 1902 in downtown Sanford.

To say it was a great time would be an understatement with over 40 vendors all bringing amazing activities, entertainment, food, and drinks!

The amazing spaces at the venue gave us the opportunity to really bring the theme of campus tour to life with everything from a tailgate to the student union and auditorium – even a coffee house.

We were so incredibly lucky to have two special vendors capturing every moment of the party, making sure everything was captured in pictures was Ashley Jane Photography and helping us capture the moments in a video recap was KMD Photo & Film!

marquee sign in front of brick building with the words your future starts at wvmu

white pop up tent outside in the grass with two tables under it with green linen on it and white chairs between the two tables setup for check in with sign haning from tent

Registration

Welcoming all of our WVMU students and visitors was the first stop on the campus tour for registration! Everyone checked in for our summer road trip party with the Wedding Venue Map team to receive special lanyards and name tags to wear on their tour and were greeted with sponsors right away.

Helping transport our guests from pickup locations surrounding the venue was Kingdom Car Services with their SUV and Sprinter Van as well as our Historic Venue 1902 staff driving golf carts provided by Sanford Tours & Experiences.

It was great to be the shuttle transportation sponsor for the WVMU Campus Tour. Being able to network with wedding industry professionals was time very well-spent and time that should be carved out in every business professional’s calendar. Our team is looking forward to the next event! – Kingdom Car Services

four cheerleaders on the steps of old school house with wvmu marquee letters in front of them and man wearing stilts dresses as a referee in front of them

At the WVMU Tailgate Camus Party, Dawn Gilmore Productions added some extra fun with our stilt walking goal post. Our stilt walker towered above the crowd, providing a unique viewpoint to the festivities as they perked up the atmosphere with their interactive football pass and eagerness to pose for photos with all the guests!

To top it off, our experienced Texas Hold’em dealer was a hit with many of the attendees…Our pro provided instruction and standard poker etiquette to create an exciting atmosphere for the guests who participated in the game. – Dawn Gilmore Productions

four women in green shorts and white shirts with logos on them holding green and white pom poms on sidewalk in front of brick building

As soon as guests approached the front of the venue they were greeted with cheerleaders from Entertainment Central Productions, a referee stilt walker from Dawn Gilmore Productions, and of course WVMU marquee letters with custom green bulbs from Event-Lit.

white sheet with painted picture on it hanging from stand in front of brick wall

After all of our attendees checked in and received their name badges they made their way to our welcome drink provided by Pat’s Liquor and served to them on a tricycle bar cart from Tipsy Traveler Bar. Heading into the party we featured a custom hand-painted banner from Katie Collins Paintings and a beautiful black, white, green, and gold balloon arch from Fab & Float.

picnic tables setup outside with beer pong next to it and dj tent

Tailgate

Our tailgate was filled with anything you could think of at any campus tailgate with our amazing vendor, Cliff with Sol Rise Entertainment, keeping the energy going in the space while Pat’s Liquor and Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream kept everyone to enjoy all of our amazing outdoor entertainment.

This event was a 1000/100! From the use of the space, entertainment, multiple vendors blending the theming so well, the food, energy, it was incredible!

I loved connecting with vendors I worked with in the local market before my time at Disney and now just getting back out there, WVM and this event has made the transition so wonderful. Looking forward to the next one and more WVM events through the last half of the year. – Jamie with Event Concepts

To keep with the tailgate theme we used green and white checked linen from Connie Duglin Linen, and even live entertainment from Odd-O-T’s Entertainment in the form of a live football trophy statue and a referee comedy act!

This was an awesome event! So much to do, so much to see and so many people to meet. It was a spectacular event, all because of Wedding Venue Map. A lot of hard work that paid off. – Kenny with USA Game Show

Of course, the stars of the tailgate were our outdoor games sponsored by Absolute Amusements and Fun Planners. When we all think tailgate I’m sure one of the first things most think of is beer pong so we couldn’t go without featuring the LED Beer Pong table from Absolute Amusements!

I decided to attend as it had a lot of great reviews, I was not disappointed, the whole experience was so much fun, I connected with suppliers and venues to benefit my business and some fun connections too. Will definitely attend next year and bring some co-workers. – Michelle with Orlando Special Effects

We couldn’t stop at beer pong though, we leveled up our tailgate with a blow up quarterback blitz game, ring and hook pub game, giant beer pong, and even some lawn games like connect four provided by Fun Planners!

Student Union

Next stop on the tour was the heart of campus, the student union, filled with food, fun, drinks, and even custom logo pillows from Chic Event Furniture Rental! As you enjoyed the entire campus tour you could easily find our sponsors, SugarPop Productions, walking around with their roaming photo booth to capture some fun moments with our guests as they were enjoying the event!

catering station setup to with big iron pig statue and roasting pig with pineapple on carving board in front of table

Our featured caterer, Arthur’s Catering, in the student union made pork totchos to serve to attendees with a ginger raspberry lemonade mocktail and they even brought a special pig along with them to make their station even more themed!

We had a BLAST serving up our Pork Totchos at the WVMU Campus Tour event! We were happy to sponsor such an amazing event thrown by the wonderful people at Wedding Venue Map and be amongst the best in Orlando and Central Florida to network, connect and celebrate with our fellow vendors in the wedding industry. – Arthur’s Catering

Further into the student union you would find our second bar sponsored by Pat’s Liquor with a “new school mule” signature drink featuring the pineapple ginger mixer from Fresh Victor and P1 Vodka. Featured in the same room our guests could play Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero provided by Absolute Amusements or relax in the lounge seating from Historic Venue 1902.

Working with the Wedding Venue Map team was exceptional. Our company provided the LED Beer Pong, Rock Band and StepManiax games for the Campus Tour event. Our team worked closely with Becky who did an excellent job making sure we had everything we needed to showcase the games. We look forward to working with the team on future projects. Whatever your event needs, we’re here to help you bring Absolute Fun! – Absolute Amusements

Classroom

It’s not every day a venue has a historic classroom so we knew we had to use the space for some very special vendors. We decided to turn it into art class where guests could come get their “Student ID” at the photo booth from Photobooth Rocks or come get their name in initial graffiti by the special artist with Artistic Talent Group.

OMG – what an amazing event! Thank you for sharing your vendors and amazing vision with us all. – Debbi with Del Frisco’s Orlando

Coffee House

Our summer road trip party has so much to do and see that we thought why not recharge everyone’s battery a bit with a coffee house!

In our coffee house we got the chance to feature the stunning coffee cart from VBee’s Coffee Hive, and a beautiful cookie table sponsored by The Cookie Jar Orlando.

Thank you so much for throwing such an amazing night. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and there was absolutely nothing you could have done to make it any better. It was amazing. I honestly don’t know how you thought of so many ideas and managed to pull all of that off it was incredible. – Katie Collins Paintings

chalkboard with pink lips drawn on it and the letters SWAK

Dorm Room

The next stop on our campus tour was the dorm room with some very special guest entertainment featured by two sponsors.

Our first sponsor, Laura Reynolds Artistry Hair and Makeup Team, provided guests with lipstick stations for guests to get the perfect shade of lipstick applied before they headed over to kiss a WVMU cocktail napkin and let our sponsor, The Psychic Lady, give them a lip print reading.

Capturing our guests special messages, funny memories of a past party, or their favorite part of being a Wedding Venue Map member was an audiobook provided by DJ Danny Garcia.

The Wedding Venue Map Summer Event is ALWAYS our favorite event of the year and SugarPop Productions is thrilled to be involved one again, capturing all the on-the-go action with our Roaming Selfie Booth. 

This year was extra special for us because Venue 1902 holds a special place in my heart — I used to bring my son here to play in the park when he was young and we’d sit on the steps out front and have a snack, so it’s always a great place to visit.  And the theming this year was on point and so perfect for this restored schoolhouse venue!  There were so many fun activities and locations to explore, and it was great seeing all these awesome friendors cut loose and celebrate their “school spirit”. – SugarPop Productions

framed sorority composite with pictures of all the members on a light green background

Sorority House

Not only did we get to take our guests to the dorm room on their campus tour but we went to the most popular sorority house on campus at WVMU.

food station setup in room with black linen covered tables and two heat lamps on one end

Our caterers, Big Boards Charcuterie & Creations Cuisine, served up some delicious slider sandwiches, mac and cheese, and some other unique tasty bites for our guests.

The only viable pertinent genuine wedding networking opportunity in town now. And this gathering indeed reaffirmed that. – Kristen with KMD Photo & Film

After enjoying a quick bite in the house attendees could then move to the glam booth provided by Photobooth Rocks for some selfies or head over to the hedge wall from Historic Venue 1902 to make a quick video in our Tiktok station!

man lines up shot at pool table with woman holding a pool stick stands beside him watching

Frat House

We couldn’t have a sorority house on the campus tour without visiting the frat house too – the venue had the perfect space that made transforming both the sorority and frat house into the themed rooms they were so simple!

In our frat house, we featured a poker dealer all night long from Dawn Gilmore Productions, and a specialty artist from Artistic Talent Group providing “corktoons” for our guests!

Artistic Talent Group was proud to sponsor both a Cork Toons Artist and Graffiti Name Artist for the recent WVMU Campus Tour Event. Everything about the event at beautiful Historic Venue 1902 was amazing. Not a detail was left out to make this “game-day” party one for the record books!

WVM has a unique way of bringing wedding industry leaders together in a relaxed, fun atmosphere unlike other networking events out there. Their keen ability to connect people is unmatched in Central Florida. We love being part of the WVM family and look forward to continuing this partnership for years to come. – Artistic Talent Group

Teachers Lounge

When you think of any school, it wouldn’t be complete without teachers and of course they need a place to relax too so we brought the team with ProTrades Services in to help curate and design the teacher’s lounge to make the perfect place for guests to relax and even enjoy delicious craft cocktail mixers with a tasting station from Fresh Victor.

two plastic tubs sit on black table with ice and bottles of juice on top of it with plush llama leaning against them

It was an absolute pleasure being able to go back for the 2nd time to this amazing event. It really allows us, industry pros, to let loose and have fun! & We sure did that! The dressing up in theme is always up my alley and I enjoyed seeing so many creatives outside their regular “networking” outfits. The entire WVM outdid themselves and the attention to detail was superb! Can’t thank the Sponsors enough for their commitment to the industry and allowing us to experience their talents. I ate a lot but burned the calories off on the dance floor, so that worked out! I can’t wait for more parties like this! – Yulieth with Radiant Events & Design

 

Auditorium

Outside and downstairs at the Historic Venue 1902, there were so many activities, food, and more for guests but when our guests headed upstairs to the auditorium they found even more unique entertainment, themed decor, and delicious foods or desserts!

There are a lot of foods that you might think of first when you think of college and our catering sponsors nailed the theme with their stations for our guests.

Premier Event Services provided a taco station, Confectionately Confections Catering provided a mac and cheese bar, Foodie Catering provided fried chicken sliders with chips and salsa, and Uncommon Catering provided a hot dog bao bun. Of course, providing an additional bar was Pat’s Liquor with our third signature drink the “tropical touchdown”.

All the treats were provided by Sweet Miss V’s who made all the delicious sweets from chocolate-covered pretzels and rice krispy treats to dessert cups and mini donuts!

I knew it was going to be epic!!! Loved the theme and Sanford is in my backyard! Loved the different breakout areas, this way those who wanted to rage could and those who wanted to huddle with a cocktail and snack could as well! Amazing! Thank you so much!! – Regia with Be Seen Social

The space was beautifully decorated with centerpieces and floral from Flowers by Lesley with special college-themed accessories and linens from Connie Duglin Linen.

While the food and decor were absolutely incredible our entertainment lineup for the evening was the cherry on top! We started the night out with Name That Tune hosted by our MC of the evening, Press Play Entertainment. Followed by an interactive salsa class lead by Entertainment City Productions who later that night helped us kick off our dance party with a surprise flash mob!

Next up was the amazing venue vocals of Map-A-Pella, also known as their Glee Club group, from Entertainment Central Productions who performed a few songs for our attendees in their acapella quartet.

But the entertainment wasn’t over yet! We kept the campus tour going with an incredible step performance from the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

two women stand together smiling one holding microphone and the other holding glass award

To wrap up the entertainment show was our crowning of the homecoming queen, our very own Shannon Tarrant, and homecoming king, none other than Kenny King himself! Followed by the WVMU spirit award showcasing the planner that made the campus tour possible, Christy Subler of Anna Christine Events.

This was my second event with Wedding Venue Map and I could not have been more impressed. There was so much to do and see and I felt completely and totally immersed in the event – I felt like I was right back at the dorm room! Extremely intricate and well done. Can’t wait to attend the next one. Overall completely blown away. Will definitely be blocking my calendar for next year on this one. – Brittani with Love Out Loud Events

Of course, if you’ve attended a summer road trip party in the past with Wedding Venue Map you know we couldn’t have one without the last hour being the best dance party which we couldn’t have had without our DJ, Press Play Entertainment, and the great addition of Kenny Kings Music for our campus “drum line” and dancers to get everyone on their feet!

Our summer road trip party is without a doubt our favorite event of the whole year but don’t forget about all the other monthly events for wedding pros from education to networking or even goal setting – stay up to date on all the upcoming Wedding Venue Map events here!

We couldn’t have our summer road trip party without these amazing Wedding & Event pros showcasing their talents:

EVENT SPONSORS:

VENDOR SPONSORS:

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