Preferred Events & National Event Connection: When Summer Is the Main Event

Nick Mattera and William Bruner are often the life of the party, but you probably wouldn’t know it.

It’s that time of year when parties pop up, often outdoors, on the East End, in tents of all sizes, from backyards to lawns outside of museums. Whether it’s a private party or a community celebration, the East End is filled with events, and event planners are helping to make it all happen at a rapid rate after the pandemic pause ended.

You might not know the companies behind the scenes, but Mattera and Bruner are behind a lot of events.

Preferred Events, in Farmingdale, and National Event Connection, in Bohemia, co-owned by Mattera and Bruner, work together to help plan and make events happen.

“We’re very heavy in the summer season from Memorial Day to Halloween, when a lot of people do outdoor functions,” says Mattera, president of Preferred Events. “I wouldn’t say we’re seasonal. We do work all year round. The work shifts from outdoor events to indoor events as the winter comes.”

They do corporate events, high-end social functions, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, sweet 16s, nonprofit fundraisers, galas, product launches and more.

“Summer’s looking great. We’re busy,” Bruner says of a post-pandemic party boom. “We do the tri-state area. We have events in multiple states at the same time.”

He continues, “It’s looking to be a very, very good wedding season. We are seeing the trend more toward outdoor weddings, not necessarily just for COVID, but the sheer ability to design your own wedding.”

While party and event planners work with basic elements, Bruner says each event has its own identity, whether it’s in backyards, vineyards, Chelsea Piers, One World Trade Center, catering halls or even Central Park.

“Every event is different,” Bruner adds. “You have different clients with different visions.”

They recently helped Dan’s Papers kick off the summer with its Rosé Soirée at the Southampton Arts Center. They provided lighting, sound, décor, flower walls, tenting, lighting, tables, chairs, power for the event and a custom dance floor.

Preferred Events is a rental shop for tents and all things underneath tents, such as, tables, chairs, lighting, flooring, linens and glassware. National Event Connection is on the entertainment and printing side of things, providing talent such as DJs, dancers, musicians and singers.

“You get all of your electronic entertainment, bouncy houses, photo booths, sound and audio/visual, lighting, intelligent lighting, video walls,” Mattera says of the partnership.

The companies have worked with PSEG LI, HBO, Facebook, Douglas Elliman, Amazon, Verizon and T-Mobile, and have done events at Citi Field in partnership with the Mets, as well. They also do events with nonprofits, working with groups such as the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation on events such as casino nights, fundraisers and banquets.

Few people are aware of the work that goes into organizing and putting together events like one-day shows. “Most of the work takes place behind the scenes. Most people don’t see it,” Bruner says. “Most people come into a finished product. We build the picture that they perceive.”

Tents are a big part of the East End event season as temporary structures go up to house and shelter parties. “The benefit and the beauty of tents is the flexibility to do whatever you want. You can build any size function depending how much grass or concrete space you have,” Mattera says, noting tents range from 10-foot-by-10-foot popups to hundreds of feet long.

They can have white or clear tops, varying heights, flooring, be put over pools, fences or barbecues, offer air conditioning or heating. “I think of it as a blank canvas,” Mattera adds. “The artist can paint the picture however they want.”

If outdoors is out, the companies also organize events at more traditional venues. “We do a lot of work with indoor venues,” Bruner says. “We have many partners we work with that are excellent.”

They say their creative team puts the parts together, using projectionist walls, projecting onto buildings and otherwise creating experiences, not just events. “When you pair it with lighting, backdrops, lounge furniture and other items, they come together as a whole,” Mattera explains. “There are a lot of moving parts.”

As the pandemic waned, Mattera says the desire to throw parties has not only returned, but gone into overdrive. “It was pent up. Everybody wanted to have parties,” he adds. “A lot of corporate functions are coming back. We’re able to provide the fun again.”

While many events take months of planning, they also get their share of last-minute work, providing tents to handle the threat of rain. “We scramble to put those events together for them,” Mattera says. “It’s a balance of long-term relationships and last-minute changes.”

For event planners, nearly every day is opening day, although on the East End, summer in particular is show time. “The show never ends. The show goes on. We’re on the wheel, and we don’t get off,” Bruner says. “The wheel never stops turning. Every day there’s a new event.”

To learn more about Preferred Events, visit preferredeventsli.com. And for more information on National Event Connection, visit nationaleventconnection.com.

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