Meet Julie Connolly
Principal
Before founding Carte Blanche Events in 2005 Julie started her career in live events at the Commodore Ballroom, booking and managing all private events at this amazing thousand person venue. From there she was recruited to be Director of Sales for MeetingMax Planning, handling international bookings for small and large conferences.
Having an extensive background in food and beverage, in 2007 Julie was once again recruited, this time into the role as General Manager of CANVAS Lounge. This was a beautiful venue located in historic Gastown that served as an art gallery, special event venue and night club.
During the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Julie operated one of the largest houses in town, and notoriously the most fun – The Irish House.
By the end of 2010 it was time to expand her own business so she opened up Jewel Ballroom & Catering, a 10K sq ft special event venue on 8th and Granville. This was a huge success and won Vancouver’s Top Choice Favourite Venue Award in both 2014 & 2015, before being bought out for real estate redevelopment.
At the same time, Carte Blanche Events won the coveted Canada’s Favourite Event Planner.
Living the balance between Mind, Body & Spirit is Julie’s principal intention. Having a business that inspires her allows for that to be a reality. It is also a driving force behind why clients love to work with Carte Blanche; knowing they can trust their event planner means they can rest a little easier.
