Wedding planning from the inside-out

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Ashley

We’ve blogged about weddings we’ve hosted here at IOYC. You’ve heard it straight from the brides, and sometimes even their mother-in-laws! This week? We’re going to show you how a wedding is pulled together from the inside out…

Cassandra Wilson, our executive assistant here at IOYC, knew immediately that she wanted to get married here on the water.

She met her husband Jason at a Euchre tournament. “I went with friends on a whim and Jason accepted a random invitation by his uncle too,” she explains. “It was our first time playing in an actual tournament and we bonded over our lack of knowledge of the tournament rules and higher understanding of the game.  We both individually tried to find the other at the end of the evening but our timing was off and we missed each other.” Luckily, three weeks later they both went back, hoping the other would be there. “It worked!” she smiled. “We wasted no time in connecting again and had our first official date after the event.”

His proposal came the Monday after Thanksgiving almost a year ago. Cassandra and Jason had the day off work, so they decided to go hang out downtown and check out the Dequindre Cut, a new greenway connecting Eastern Market and the Riverwalk overlooking the water with their dog Mac.

“The walls are filled with really cool art and graffiti and we came across one that had the word GRAY written on it. That is Jason’s last name so I took a picture of him and Mac next to it” Cassandra says. “Mac posed so well that I ran up to give him a hug and that’s when Jason got on one knee and said ‘Mac and I want to know if you’ll be a Gray with us.’ We later took our engagement pictures there too.”

As for the planning process, Cassandra says it was surreal. “I thought I knew what I was in for in terms of planning a wedding but I quickly realized that planning your wedding is a full time job,” she laughs.

“I don’t know how any bride does it that doesn’t have our built-in wedding packages,” she notes. “I’m not just saying that to promote the yachts either… but if I had to meet with several florists, photographers, bakeries, and dj’s and decide who was the best in terms of service, pricing, personality, I would have lost my mind!” It turned out that having preferred vendors already lined up at IOYC saved her a lot of time and money… and she was already confident in the care and quality of service they provide.

“I used the same vendors all our brides have the pleasure of using. I 100% feel they are the best in the business,” she insists… and adds “why mess with a good thing?”

Cassandra’s own wedding planning really let her see what other brides go through in planning theirs. “I’m sure I’m not alone in having an idea of what I have wanted my wedding to be like for years, well before I met Jason or even thought about marriage and certainly well before I started working for the yachts. And boy did I have some ideas!” She reminisces. “The friends (they are no longer just my co-workers) I work with were unbelievable. Their ideas, knowledge, and expertise were such a help and comfort to me. If I was stumped or upset, they knew exactly how to make my plan/dream come to life and then it was beautifully executed the day of my wedding. It brought us all closer and made me truly understand how lucky any bride is to have one of them help them plan their wedding.”

“There is so much more involved than just the ceremony and reception and what we do here at the yachts. Those are just the grand finale,” she says. And she’s right! But when faced with all these decisions, especially decisions about one of the most important days of your life… it’s best to get by with a little help from your friends. “All of them played a huge part in making the day come to life. Whether it was tying my sashes for the reception, booking my favorite entertainer, helping me put together my invitations, proof reading my program, I could go on and on. I did nothing alone. They were there with me every step of the way…”

“I’m a lucky girl,” she concludes.

If you’re interested in learning more about getting married on the Ovation or Infinity, you can send inquiries or fill out a proposal. For more stories from our brides, check out our bridal blog.

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Wine and dine IOYC style: Try our Mushroom Cream Sauce!

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Ashley

Word around the block is that one of the many highlights on our cruises is the food! We’ve certainly been thrilled to hear it, too! Over the last few months, during our Summer Cruise Series, we’ve had requests left and right from our happy guests looking for the recipes from their favorite dishes. So we decided to launch the Wine and Dine IOYC Style series and share the love, from our kitchen to yours.

Labor day just passed, meaning a return to school, the start of football season, cooler weather setting in and a great harvest. We thought we’d celebrate by giving you a taste of fall— and if you’d like to drink well while eating well, we’d suggest you check out our Oktoberfest Cruise!

Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce

Your shopping list:
1 lb. Button mushrooms (better known as “white” mushrooms), sliced
½ lb. Portobella mushrooms, sliced
6 Tbs. Butter
1.75 Qt. Scalded milk or cream
½ tsp. Mushroom base
2 Tbs. Flour
¾ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. White pepper

The nice thing about this recipe is that you’ll likely have most of what you need at home.

Start by scalding the cream, preferably in a thick-bottomed pan or double boiler, stirring consistently so no film builds up.Saute your sliced mushrooms in butter, and caramelize slightly. Caramelizing mushrooms takes some time, so don’t try to rush through this process. They’re ready when they’ve all shrunk in size and are brown all over.

Add the mushroom base and scalded cream, with the flour. Add more or less flour until you get the consistency you’d like. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Bring this to a low boil and allow simmer. When the mushrooms are soft and the sauce has thickened, it’s ready. Adjust your seasoning to taste.

So now what? We usually serve the cream sauce with a portabella mushroom ravioli, but the sky is the limit when you’re choosing what you’d like drizzle this over. Orecchiette pasta is a great choice as well. With it’s shell-like shape, it carries just the right amount of sauce in each bite. Fettuccine noodles and a nice risotto serve well, too. For the carnivores out there, the sauce is also great over most grilled meats. Chicken, veal, and beef medallions are among popular choices.

Both red and white wines pair well with this sauce. We suggest either a pinot noir or chardonnay, depending on what else you’re serving.

Bon Appetit! Let us know how it turns out!

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Wine and dine IOYC style: Try our Idaho potato torta!

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Ashley

We’ve gotten a few requests for our recipes we’ve been serving on board the Ovation and Infinity. One woman wanted to recreate her the dinner she had on her wedding day in celebration of her anniversary, others just can’t get enough of our chef’s dishes. Either way, we’ve tallied all of your requests, and this week we’re bringing you one of our recipes in highest demand:

Idaho Potato Torta

What you’ll need:

2 lbs Thinly Sliced Idaho Potatoes

1 c Heavy Cream

¾ c Shredded Parmesan Cheese

¼ c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

¼ c Shredded Provolone Cheese

1 ¼ tsp Kosher Salt

Pinch Black Pepper

2 tsp Chopped Garlic

¼ c Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Preheat your over to 350 degrees F.

Be sure to slice the potatoes very thin! It will taste great either way, but has a more sophisticated look if the torta lays flat and level. I found that cutting the potatoes in half and resting the flat side down allows you to cut with greater control.

When all of your potatoes, garlic, and green onions are sliced thin, mix all of the ingredients together and pour into a 9 x 9 square cake pan. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Time may need to be adjusted. You’ll be able to tell when the torta is done when the potatoes are tender and the cream is absorbed. This makes 15 4 oz. servings, so be sure to invite your friends!

For a more elegant look, we prefer to cut our torta into triangles, but feel free to experiment with all kinds of shapes!

It’s best to pair this dish with more tannic wines. Try a nice chianti that will compliment the parmesan flavor. Other full bodied red wines like Bordeaux wines, and California cabs should do the trick too. As always, if you have suggestions, send them our way.

Happy cooking! Let us know how it turns out on Facebook or Twitter and stay tuned for more recipes in the coming weeks!

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Cruising with Captain Spike

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Ashley

Spike has literally sailed the world over. Semi-professionally, he’s taken boats from Duluth to Buffalo, down the east coast, to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Jamaica, Mexico, up the Pacific coast, and all the way past Hawaii and Alaska. He’s even sailed against Olympians.

He’s a born and raised Michigander, and learned how to sail when he was a kid. “I was born into a sailing family,” he explains. “I was basically raised on a schooner during the summers in Detroit.”

In this way, coming to captain aboard the Infinity and Ovation yachts is coming full circle.

“I grew up here. I learned to sail on the Detroit River,” he says. “I did all I could do at the semi-professional level and I just had to come back.”

Spike has been with us since almost the very beginning: even before the Ovation was built. “I’ve been captaining for this company for 18 years,” he says “and I still love every day of it.” He laughs “I’ve gotten old, but this hasn’t.”

It’s his hometown pride that makes it so. “It’s nice to share Detroit with those who don’t know it’s here,” he says. “I’ve had out of state people come cruise on one of the yachts and they’re shocked at how beautiful the international waterway is.”

The backdrop is certainly striking. “The Infinity and Ovation make great wedding and party venues… and the second floor of the Ovation is absolutely the best bar in the city,” he asserts, “…especially if a Wings game is on.”

When it comes to yachting, he likes different things about the Infinity and Ovation yachts. “The Ovation is just an extraordinarily designed boat,” he insists “and handling the Infinity in the water is just a breeze.” But don’t just take his word for it – we’ve had some of our grooms say the same during their wedding receptions.

It’s not just a sense of hometown pride that makes him love his job, though. “I enjoy when the trip is over and you have a happy boat, the people are dis-embarking, they’ve had a good dinner,and danced all evening,” he says. “You can see on their faces that you’ve done something very special for all of them.”

That goes for the crew members, too. A couple weeks ago, he saw the moon rising in the east. It was bright red. “I stopped the crew right there and had them go up and enjoy the scenery. I like letting everyone stop and smell the roses,” he explains. “This is absolutely why all of us are doing this.”

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Meet the team! IOYC introduces Jackie Carden

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Ashley

Jackie Carden is our Jack (or Jill, rather) of all trades. After all, there’s quite a bit that fits under directing cruise and events operations. She’s done everything from designing menus and décor for the yachts to training new employees that come around for prime cruising season.

“My role is a collaboration on ideas with our executive chef, Chuck Sansone. I look at balancing out the offerings, identify the execution so that it will make sense from a service perspective, and most importantly making sure that the menu will appeal to our guests.”

With feedback from previous years, she’s able to write (and rewrite!) menus catered specifically to our guests tastes. Check out a sampling of our 8 different menus, not to mention our beverage services, compliments, enhancements, and “sweet endings” deserts.

Her background in design is in more than just menus, however. One of her favorite projects she’s worked on was actually building the Ovation. “We were a part of the entire process,” she says “It was such a unique experience that I’ll never forget.”

Not one detail was left without careful consideration: “the marble, wood grains, fabrics, furnishings, equipment, fixtures, carpet (definitely the most difficult one), you name it,” Jackie points out.

“The best part, however, was being able to design a venue to operate successfully based on everything we learned previously.” Before the Ovation was introduced, the team was cruising on her sister ship, the Infinity.

Part of the design process, and continuing decisions on décor is keeping all the different kinds of events we hold on the yachts. From weddings to the summer cruise series parties like Cinco de Mayo, to business functions, anniversaries, bat mitzvahs, and more, we’ve seen and done a lot. “Because events and taste vary so much, my objective,” Jackie says “is to make the yachts as well-appointed and versatile as possible. We designed it to be more monochromatic to allow for any event’s color scheme. At the same time, we wanted guests to also feel that if they didn’t want to decorate or spend additional money, that the yachts are truly beautiful as they are.”

But there’s another side to keeping the yachts in tip-top shape, and it has to do with the other side to her favorite part of the job:

“The staff… No question about it! They make my day!”

For employees that work the summer cruising season, we start recruiting around mid-April. “Though we retain many of our employees from one year to the next, we’ve had substantial growth,” Jackie explains, “so we always make sure we are prepared.”

So between training employees, design decisions, and more recently, coordinating the Diva’s in the D cruise’s support to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Center, Jackie has kept rather busy. Luckily, one of the perks of the job is getting a spot on the boat to cruise with everyone. If you’re planning on coming to the Good Vibrations, 80′s Rewind, or Carnival cruises this summer, make sure to stop and say hi!

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Detroit Jazz Festival Cruise keeps the tradition alive

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Ashley

Here at IOYC, we’ve helped support various fundraising efforts related to the arts. This month, we’re proud to say that the Detroit Jazz Festival board of trustees has chosen to host their annual fundraiser on our Ovation Yacht.

The festival is a long standing Labor Day weekend tradition. This year, the theme is “We Bring You the World,” celebrating world influence on jazz, and the influence jazz has had on the world. As such, the festival will draw internationally renowned artists, while Detroit’s own legacy of jazz artists will be center stage.

Nearly two million feet of Downtown Detroit will be transformed into concert space this September: from the RiverFront’s Hart Plaza all the way down to the beautiful Campus Martius Park. As impressive as this is, the Jazz Festival doesn’t just stop here. They have programs that run longer than just the holiday weekend. Artists residency programs, music education in Detroit area schools, a poetry slam series, a jazz fusion program… these are just a handful of the ways the Detroit Jazz Festival reaches out into the community. They are committed to accessibility.

One of the striking ways they’ve kept the festival accessible is keeping it completely free of admission charge.

There are several ways for supporters to help keep this tradition going.

The annual Jazz Festival cruise, “Fiesta Crucero” is going to be just that. The honorable Mayor Dave Bing alongside the Festival Board of Trustees will host the event onboard the Ovation yacht on June 15th.

We’ll feature a Latin theme and, naturally, music to match. Here’s a sneak peak of the evening’s music, Descarga-ranga:

Champagne will be passed upon boarding, while dinner and cocktails will be from our Skyline menu. Also featured will be the incredible Pasta Milano, Crepes Flambe, and mini assorted pastries for dessert.

Nicole Jaquinde, our charter specialist here at IOYC, helped coordinate the event. “I definitely support fundraising for the arts and feel it is vital in personal growth and the future,” she explains.

We hope that you’ll stand with us, too, in supporting the arts and one of Detroit’s cultural gems. Tickets for the Detroit Jazz Cruise are still available here.

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Cruise to kick cancer!

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Ashley

“We’ve never done anything with sponsorships on the Summer Cruise Series outside of wine companies before,” Jackie Carden, director of cruise and event operations, explains.

This year, we’re planning something different. In honor of National Best Friends Day, we’ve organized the Divas in the D cruise for Wednesday June 8th. It’ll be a place for girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and cousins to get together, but here’s the twist:

We’ve decided to donate the sponsorship proceeds to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.

We started the Summer Cruise Series three years ago, all the while enjoying our time cruising with everyone. Still, Jackie found herself asking “why not allow the event to give back a little bit as well?”

She chose our Divas in the D cruise to do just that. “We want to give it meaning and at the same time give money to cancer,” Jackie says. “One of the first things that come to mind when you’re thinking about charities is breast cancer.”

She points out that Karmanos has a renowned breast cancer program, but they do much, much more than that. Karry Samulski worked with Jackie to coordinate the event between IOYC and Karmanos. “Organizers of events that are benefiting the Institute have the option of choosing where they would like their money to go. They can support areas of cancer research, community education programs, or patient care,” Karry explains.

We’ve decided that the funds from this cruise will be distributed to benefit all women’s cancers: cervical, breast and ovarian.

“Jackie’s idea was that it would be great to not only be a fun event for girlfriends, but also a benefit for the Karmanos Cancer Institute,” Karry says. Support from Angott Medical Products, a start up that has developed a new breast cancer screening test, has helped make this possible, alongside the Renaissance Day Spa. You can look forward to t-shirts sold on board, as well as giveaway gift bags upon exiting the yacht.

Proud to be a part of this, we believe this the kind of charity that will make a great difference, as so many of us are touched by cancer (either in our own lives or in those of the people close to us).

Our five course menu nods to this. Whether it’s stilettos, peep toes, mary janes, espradilles, or slingbacks, strap on some pretty new shoes, and come kick cancer!

Update 06/08: The Divas in the D cruise has SOLD OUT! A huge thank you to all of our supporters!

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Cruising with Captain Mel

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Ashley

If you haven’t heard already, we’d like to welcome you to the summer cruise season! We kicked off on May 5th with our Cinco de Mayo event and have five more cruises available in the Summer Cruise Series for you to come and cruise with us.

By now, you’ve met some of our staff, and hopefully a few new friends on board. This week, we’ll give you a look at the operations side of our team.

Captain Mel is one of 5 captains that pilot the Infinity and Ovation. With over 13 years of experience, Mel helped introduce the Infinity’s sister ship, Ovation in 2005.

Like our other staff members at IOYC, Mel is crazy about being on the water. “I was born and raised on the water,” he explains. “But I’m pretty lucky having started out on a 12 foot row boat and now I’m here on the beautiful Ovation!”

Starting on a rowboat is great, but there are a lot of knobs and dials that make the magic of sailing a boat of this stature. Here’s a video of our “backstage,” so to speak, where Mel gives us a tour:

If you want to come out and cruise with us, there are still tickets available for our Summer Cruise Series, or plan a private events for a yacht full of your friends . Fill out a proposal and come cruise with us!

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Meet the team! IOYC introduces Ryan Angott

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Ashley

We know that one of the best things about this new social media trend is that you get to see the people behind a company, instead of just the exterior. As we’ve started meeting new readers and friends on Facebook and Twitter, we wanted to introduce ourselves to you, too. So if you’ve booked already, you’re thinking about cruising with us, or just perusing for now, we’re continuing our “Meet the Team” series this week.

We’ve been told that meeting the team behind IOYC, and seeing the passion behind the work, you start to wonder if most see themselves in this kind of job from the start.

For Ryan Angott, director of sales and marketing, the answer is a definite yes.

“I love being outdoors and I am always looking to get on the water whenever I can. I actually own a house on Cass Lake,” Ryan explains. So when he isn’t marketing cruises on the Ovation and Infinity, he likes to relax and take his own boat out. In this way, work and play never seem too separated.

“I really did picture myself working with a company like this.” Ryan affirms.

But it wasn’t just about being near the water. He wanted a creative job: one that would draw from his skill set.

“Even though I didn’t have a hospitality background… finding out I had the opportunity to work for IOYC was a huge draw,” Ryan says. It turned out that the position he took, directing sales and marketing, was the perfect fit. His unique set of skills were just right for what Ryan calls “an extremely fun, unique company.”

The fun comes in, Ryan says, in the independence this job gives him: “creating a complete sales and marketing plan and running with it… and then see it come to life throughout the year… it’s a thrill for me.”

Growing up, his dad often told him “if you hate your job, you will work every day of your life. If you love your job, you don’t have to work a day in your life.” Taking the job at IOYC allows him to live out his dad’s advice: “Because I love my job so much, it helps me enjoy my life a tremendous amount more.”

Shouldn’t a job be fun? We tend to think so, especially in our line of work. The equation is pretty simple, actually. When we have fun creating and coordinating the cruises you’d want to take, it makes the whole experience more fun for you. And that’s our bottom line.

So how much fun do you think you can have on one of our cruises? You can come for a taste on one of our Summer Cruise Series events, or if you’d like to jump in head first, you can fill out a proposal for your own private event. We’d love to see you on board.

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Meet the Team! IOYC introduces Karen Servatius

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Ashley

So far we’ve blogged about our upcoming events, brides who we’ve gotten close to, and event trends, but this week we thought we’d bring you something new.

Businesses never stand by themselves. They’re built out of the people who run them: the people who add personality and character to the place. We know that the events that we host on board the Infinity and Ovation are sometimes the most important days in people’s lives, and that there is a lot that goes into making it the best it can be. As such, IOYC is staffed by a group of people who are passionate about what they do.

So we thought that as we get to know our readers, we’d like to introduce ourselves to you, too!

Karen Servatius is our charter coordinator here at IOYC.

“After reading the description of the job, I knew it was perfect for me,” she starts. Not only does this job draw on talents from her two previous (working as a travel agent and travel events manager), she just plain loves it… “I love water and boats, so having the opportunity to do what I love, where I love to be, was the ultimate job.”

Karen’s job is full of variety, but most importantly she says she’s the point person for vendor confirmations when times draws close to cruising. She also manages the spectacular Summer Cruise Series. This year’s series, which Miss Karen has so enthusiastically worked on, will kick off on Cinco de Mayo.

Before IOYC launched this series, cruises on the Ovation and Infinity were primarily private events. Karen and the rest of the team were interested in opening the boats up to the general public, giving anyone who was curious a taste of what it’s like to cruise on our fleet. If you, dear reader, are wondering what it’s like, we have some good news: there are still tickets available for the Cinco de Mayo cruise and others in our Summer Series.

So far, people have been wild for it, and this includes the staff! “My most memorable event was on the Havana Nights cruise [on the Summer Series] last year. It was my first ‘cruise’ and I was able to share it with my parents on board,” Karen explains. “They’re avid cruisers, so it was great to hear how thrilled they were to find something as fabulous as the Ovation yacht to enjoy a night out in the summer.”

The Ovation

She says it’s the people that she loves most about her job. “I’m fortunate to work with an incredible group of individuals,” she beams. But it’s the patrons of IOYC, too: “it’s great to walk around and talk to people and hear all the great things they have to say about our cruises.”

Stay tuned to hear from more of our staff in our “Meet the Team” blog series, and in the meantime, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for live updates.

Have a happy weekend!

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