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Donna Devadas: It’s All Memorable
Donna Devadas: It’s All Memorable
By Vicky Moon
Photo by Doug Gehlsen of Middleburg Photo Donna Devadas
Nothing like an overachiever.
Sprinkle in talented, organized and attractive. And you’ve got Donna Devadas, director of planning services with Memorable Meetings, a South Carolina firm that offers full service, turn-key meeting planning (beginning with onsite selection), registration, transportation, audio visual, décor, spouse programs, on-site support and team building, as the client needs.
Donna Devadas feels fortunate to have a flexible work schedule to be able to ride most days. “I take lessons regularly,” she said, “and even started showing in the Hunter Division the past three years.”
Photo by Libby Beeler.
For the past 22 years, her work has taken her to many spectacular Five-Star hotels and resorts in picturesque destinations: Pebble Beach, the Caribbean, Italy and beyond. She appreciates experiencing how each property is different and how they add their own special touches. She now works from her home base in Middleburg.
Donna grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, “watching the boats and dolphins” and still visits often. She’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina, with a degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management. She began her career at the Kiawah Island Resort and found her passion for planning with Memorable Meetings as director of planning services: corporate, golf outings and more. The list of projects she’s worked on is beyond impressive.
“This allowed the challenge and opportunity to create something unique and different,” she said. “Whether it’s an event for one evening or a weekend or for ten days.”
She also takes on additional events, including a recent party at the Middleburg Community Center.
Place settings were traditional.
Photo © by Leonard Shapiro
When not working, Prem and Donna Devadas spend time with good friends, traveling, and with their beloved dogs.
Favorite Hotels to Stay: Villa d’Este, Lake Como, the Dolder Grand in Zurich and of course, The Salamander Resort & Spa.
Photo by Doug Gehlsen/Middleburg Photo
“The client had a vision and already determined what the look and feel of the night should be,” she said. “I was able to partner with them and build on that vision as well as help streamline the reservation process, coordinate and organize the set up and support in any other way that was needed.”
A team of volunteers also put in many hours, from arranging the floral pieces to the actual set up and decoration of tables.
“Their volunteers worked tirelessly to put on a special event,” she said.
With input from the event committee, Donna worked with Tutti Perricone of Back Street Catering to finalize the menu and budget. The evening began with passed Hors d’oeuvres of spicy chicken bites wrapped in bacon, country ham biscuits and caprese skewers drizzled with a balsamic glaze. Some of the dinner included chicken breast with a smokey fire roasted tomato sauce, thinly-sliced marinated flank steak and grilled shrimp on sugar cane skewers.
In addition to her work, Donna also is hooked on horses.
“I fell in love with horses when I went to Girl Scout camp at eightyears-old,” she said, Adding that she took lessons and, at age 13, “I got what every girl dreamed of, a horse for Christmas.”
She took a break from her equine pursuits during college and returned to this passion when she and her husband, Prem Devadas, president of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, moved to Virginia in 2005.
“When Prem first mentioned the opportunity in Middleburg, I was a little hesitant to leave my family and friends in Charleston,” Donna said. They attended a Gold Cup weekend that May and Donna knew this was a place she wanted to be.
“I instantly fell in love with the area, its people and all the things it has to offer,” she said. “I can truly say I have the best of both worlds.”
www.memorabalemeetings.com
