Have A Cup Of Joe With Joe: Meet The Vendors Participating In A Pay It Forward Wedding Giveaway Campaign

Ambassador Golf Club & Friends Pay It Forward With Wedding Giveaway HAVE A CUP OF JOE WITH JOE

By Joe McParland

Have you ever had the experience of going through a drive-through and discovering as you went to pay for your order that it had already been paid for by the car in front of you — by a perfect stranger? If you have, welcome to “pay it forward”.

Hopefully, you were inspired by this gesture and selected another stranger to later pay it forward to with an act of generosity. You kept the ball rolling.

Paying it forward is not a new or novel concept. Throughout literature, from the ancient Greek comedies to modern times, man has often been depicted as being beneficent toward his fellow man without any expectation of anything in return.

The mid-19th century essayist and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote in his 1841 essay, “Compensation”, the following: “In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody.”

Ten years ago, Daniele Palanca and Diane Farquhar moved on from their employment with St. Clair College Centre for the Arts to new career opportunities at Ambassador Golf Club.

Palanca became Executive Chef, and Farquhar, Client Service Manager. During their 10 years at Ambassador, this dynamic duo has built the facility into a highly popular and successful special events banquet venue — especially for weddings.

As Palanca explains, “A good part of our success is the fact that we have been lucky to have worked with many of the same vendors for 10 years, all of them true professionals in what they do.”

Palanca and Farquhar are so grateful for their employment, the club’s ownership and the amazing clientele at Ambassador that, for a few years, they have bounced around the idea of “giving away a free wedding” — a massive pay it forward.

Farquhar recalls: “About five years ago, Chef (Palanca) said to me that we should have a free wedding for some lucky couple. I said, ‘Sure, Chef; but how are we going to pull that off?”

Over the next five years the idea was

Cheers to the local vendors graciously donating their product/service for this special wedding giveaway. A few are pictured in this fun group photo taken by the bar at Ambassador Golf Club. From left: Jill Wilhelm, Jill Wilhelm Photography; Joe McParland, Creative Marriage Celebrations; Wendy Hoffman, Coffee & Cream; Janet Arsenault, Chalet Studio Photography & Gardens; Ambassador Golf Club’s Executive Chef Daniele Palanca and Diane Farquhar, Client Service Manager; Diane Spencler-Glover, Designs by Diane; Alba Giglio, Girard & Co. Flowers; Sarah Taylor, It’s Your Day Bridal and Giovanni Arcuri and Lisa Costante, Sottozero Catering. Vendors missing include: Jack Jobin, Limos by Mr. J’s; Sandra Veric from Allure Events, PJ Tawil from DJPJ Productions; Veronique Peladeau from Pelee Island Winery, Astj Marie from Crystal Clear Jewelry, Maria Dattilo-Ciampa of MDC Custom Artistry and Saskia Scott from Sweet Revenge Bake Shop. Photo by Rod Denis.

occasionally floated to various wedding vendors, who were all totally on board with it.

“Finally, we decided we would do it and approached the Ambassador ownership team with our idea,” beams Farquhar. “They were 100% behind it.”

Farquhar and Palanca are quick to point out this is not a promotion for Ambassador, but a genuine desire by the two of them and their staff to pay it forward to others for their good fortunes.

Palanca proudly states “their staff has volunteered their time for this special wedding — they will not be clocking in that day.”

“And who knows,” adds Farquhar, “perhaps the winning couple will then find a way afterwards to pay it forward for another couple.”

Thus, Palanca and Farquhar have created the “Pay it forward campaign: Wedding Giveaway.” Held appropriately on Valentine’s Day, Sunday, February 14, 2021 in the Ambassador Golf Club ballroom, 1025 Sprucewood Avenue, Windsor, they are providing for one lucky couple a free room rental, appetizers, chef’s custom menu and late-night pizza, for up to 150 guests.

Interested couples were asked to write a story and submit it to Farquhar and Palanca describing why they should be selected to have the wedding of their dreams.

Farquhar informs Biz X, “More than 70 beautiful stories about love, illness, and financial situations poured in from couples before the March 31, 2020 deadline. The winning couple will be notified after a panel decision from the top 10 finalists at the end of May.”

The following are more generous Windsor and Essex County vendors who jumped on board to also offer their services or products for this wedding event. They are as listed: A three-tier wedding cake from Saskia Scott of Sweet Revenge Bake Shop, (5410 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor; SweetRevengeBakeShop.com); a gold DJ package from PJ Tawil of DJPJ Productions (DjPjProductions.com); an Espresso Bar, Gelato Cart and Cannoli Bar courtesy of Lisa Costante and

Giovanni Arcuri of Sottozero Catering (Facebook.com/Sottozero.Gelato5); an instock wedding gown valued at up to $1,000 from Sarah Taylor, It’s Your Day Bridal Boutique (1661 Front Road, LaSalle; ItsYourDay.ca); Wedding reception décor from Sandra Veric, Allure Events (Facebook.com/AllureEventsWindsor); Bride’s bouquet and Groom’s boutonniere, Alba Giglio, Girard & Co. Flowers & Gifts (1371 Grand Marais Road West, Windsor; GirardFlowers.com); engagement photos by Janet and Alan Arseneault, Chalet Studio Photography & Gardens (7540 Howard Avenue, Amherstburg; ChaletStudio.ca); wedding reception photos taken by Jillian Wilhelm of Jillian Wilhelm Photography (985 Baseline Road, Windsor; JillianWilhelmPhotography.com); a necklace, earring and bracelet set for the bride supplied by Astj Marie of Crystal Clear Jewelry ( Fa c e b o o k .c o m /c r y s t a lcl e a r je wl); complete wedding officiant services by yours truly, Joe McParland of Creative Marriage Celebrations (1559 Victoria Avenue, Windsor; CivilMarriages.ca); and wedding welcome sign, guestbook and table numbers from Maria DattiloCiampa of MDC Custom Artistry (visit: Facebook.com/mdccustomartistry).

In addition, I asked a few more of the vendors why they're involved in the “Pay it forward campaign: Wedding Giveaway” and here are the responses . . .

Coffee & Cream (learn more on: CoffeeAndCream.ca) is setting up an evening crepe station on site the day of the wedding thanks to Barb Hackett and Wendy Hoffman.

As Hackett explains, “Being a part of a dream come true and a part of someone’s special day is great. We do a lot of local events and love to be a part of the wedding community and working with other vendors. Ambassador’s venue is so magical, and all events are done with the utmost care and professionalism. When an opportunity knocks like this, you definitely want to be involved.”

Veronique Peladeau and her team at Pelee Island Winery (455 Seacliff Drive, Kingsville and Pelee Island, 20 East West Road; PeleeIsland.com) are providing an overnight stay package for the happy couple.

Peladeau says, “As a preferred vendor of Ambassador Golf Club we are honoured to be a part of giving back to members of our own community. Paying it forward with so many great local businesses truly warms all our hearts; I am so looking forward to celebratingwith the lucky couple.”

Since all those tying the knot deserve to arrive to their wedding in style, Jack Jobin of Limos by Mr. J’s (4205 County Road 42, Windsor; MrJsLimos.com) is offering three hours worth of limousine service.

Jobin is happy “to donate my limousine services to Ambassador Golf Club’s ‘Pay it forward campaign: Wedding Giveaway’ and to be involved in supporting the community.”

Diane Spencler-Glover of Designs by Diane (DesignsByDiane.org) has been in the business for over 30 years and is donating and setting up décor items for the reception to create a winter wonderland theme (trust us at Biz X, if Diane is involved, your event will be over the top!).

“I’m blessed to have had the clients I have looked after over the years and many have shared their pay it forward stories with me,” she says. “I wanted to give back as well and hopefully my participation here will encourage others to also pay it forward.”

For ongoing updates about the “Pay it forward campaign: Wedding Giveaway” — including discovering which deserving couple was rewarded with all these fabulous items — check out Ambassador’s social media page: Facebook.com/B2BattheAGC.

You can also read about Ambassador's wedding options, menus and more on the website: AmbassadorGolfClub.com.