For an event that is held annually, each year can still leave its own individual mark. The themes, the look, the tone and the overall story it tells can shift from one year to the next. This specific year marked the 22nd that the Mission San Juan Capistrano has celebrated their Romance of the Mission Gala held on their historic grounds. Brite Ideas provided the audio visual production for the evening’s concert performances. This was our second year collaborating on this gala event.
A Night To Celebrate A Long History
One year shy of its 250th anniversary, the Mission San Juan Capistrano is renowned in Orange County, California for its long-running history. The Mission is known for holding its annual Return of the Swallows event. This is where thousands of cliff swallows return for their spring nesting in the area. The Mission yearly hosts over 300,000 visitors with the Romance of the Mission Gala event functioning as its annual fundraising headliner.
Returning for our second year partnering with the mission, Brite Ideas provided the following creative design services for the evening’s entertainment starring Abi Carter, the 22nd season winner of American Idol.
Mission Gala Event Services Scope
- Concert Lighting in the Ruins of the Great Stone Church
- Concert Audio in the Ruins of the Great Stone Church
- Audio for performances in the Missions Gardens
- Audio for dinner in the Mission Central Courtyard
- Content Creation & Video Mapping on the Ruins of the Great Stone Church during the concert
Through careful planning and collaboration, the night went off without issue running as smoothly as we would have hoped! So much of the problem-solving for the event happened in year one allowing us to easily approach year two (and beyond!).
An Evening Full of Creative Design & Event Innovation
What landed us with a client relationship like this one started with a single referral. It can often be the simplest word-of-mouth connections that build the most long-term client relationships. At Brite Ideas, we find that our professionalism and one-of-a-kind design concepts help distinguish ourselves in the audio visual industry. It’s these interactions that turn one-time event bookings into long-lasting partnerships.
In previous years, the signature concert of the Mission’s gala event involved only simple lighting. With our focus on creative storytelling, we offered the concept of video mapping onto the 19th century Ruins of the Great Stone Church. The addition of video mapping the building was such a clear choice to support the Mission in a way that they had not previously attempted!
One of the major successes we initially achieved was during our first year designing the gala event. Through the art of video mapping projection, we “painted” the ruins in their original splendor thus “rebuilding” the church in front of the guests’ eyes. Our video mapping capabilities of the stone ruins will only continue to improve! These will be further developed in preparation for next year’s celebration of the Missions 250th anniversary.
Brite Ideas CEO, Greg Christy, called the live show that evening which is a task he continues to enjoy: “It gives me the opportunity to be an integral part of the performance. The show caller emphasizes the musical beats of the concert with the lighting and video cues. It’s a great feeling to really be a part of the music when you are ‘on.’”
Building an Ongoing Gala Event Relationship
While the end results matter, it’s the client partnerships that really amplify the audio production and lighting design’s desired effect. The Mission San Juan Capistrano’s Executive Director, Mechelle Lawrence Adams, shared her thoughts regarding our work together from planning to the night itself:
“What an amazing production team Brite Ideas makes for our site. Everybody who works on this gala is truly dedicated and talented in their own way combined. From the careful and committed attention to detail, and curating an experience that evokes a meaningful memory for attendees, causing them to care about the landmark as a result. We all moved a mountain together!”
Adams summarized the gala event best in her own words, “it’s an annual one-of-a-kind gala fundraiser taking place in pristine historic ruins, featuring a concert and sumptuous dinner crafted by community entities.” The Mission Director also describes Greg Christy as a masterful leader and attentive creator and designer. Adams cites Brite Ideas as “everything a client would want to work with: caring, responsive, and committed to making the end result better than imagined.”
We take our time to execute our work with what she describes as “110% effort and an eye to success, doing all that they can to remove headaches and identify concerns early in the planning stages.” From meeting on video or voice calls at a moment’s notice to watching budget matters closely, and communicating concerns in advance, Adams noted our ability to “give the client room to work while finding effective and best effort solutions.”
The event was a great success beyond its design and nurturing of client relationships as it raised over $300,000 in funds to support the Mission’s future goals. We look forward to next year’s celebrations including the great highlight of the Mission’s 250th anniversary!
Vendors
Venue | Mission San Juan Capistrano
Catering | Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, Executive Chef Adrián Hernandez
Reception/Dinner Lighting | D Lighting
Rentals | BBJ La Tavola Specialty Linen & Signature Elevated Rentals
Parking | Brand Enhance Parking & Hospitality
Photography | Zeris design
Videography | Colin J. Horan Media
