June 24, 2011

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Photo by Michael Frost.

Fans of the hit television show The Real Housewives of New Jersey know Dina Manzo as the calm and cool housewife who, weary of the hair-pulling and table-tossing, chose to say sayonara to the show partway through the second season. These days, Manzo’s life is still just as full of excitement and glamour, but instead of dueling costars, the drama now comes from creating one-of-a-kind soirees for clients of Designer Affair, her Franklin Lakes–based event-planning company. “The only drama I’ll take now is having pink tulips show up for an event instead of red ones!” she jokes.

Photo by Michael Frost.

For Manzo, becoming a professional event planner was a natural transition from her previous career as an interior designer. “I look at the work the same way,” she says. “You’re designing either a house or a space for an event.” Often, after finishing a decorating project, Manzo’s clients would decide to host a party in their new digs and ask her to handle the arrangements—a task she really enjoyed. “I was able to be even more creative when planning the parties because people will usually take more of a risk with an event than with their house,” she says. Her experience planning her own wedding, which was featured on VH-1’s My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding, cemented the idea of launching a party-planning company. “Our wedding went from 50 guests in early June to 750 in August,” Manzo says. “I was able to plan this unbelievable event with all these guests, 75 centerpieces and lots of craziness in a matter of two months. That’s when it clicked that, ‘You know what? I’m good at this.’”

Manzo says her events—from weddings to birthday parties to business launches— are characterized by her creativity and attention to detail. “I love thinking outside the box. I’m known for bringing in that unique element to parties,” she says. “I think a lot of it comes from my design background.” Her favorite place to host a celebration: at home, of course. “I love to have weddings and throw parties in clients’ homes because that way the event is unique to them,” she adds. She also loves to focus on the little elements that add up to an unforgettable bash.

For instance, she recommends brides skip the ubiquitous white wedding guest book and instead purchase a beautiful, high-quality coffee-table book that reflects their story. Got engaged at the Eiffel Tower? A book on Paris would be perfect. Spending your honeymoon in Kauai? Choose a tome with beautiful Hawaiian vistas. Display it so your guests can add personal messages and well wishes. “After the wedding, you have something special for your home—instead of something that will get tossed in the closet,” she says.