Over the weekend we captured our first corporate event of 2024 the day after the end of our week & a half annual Holiday Break! This weekend we captured Jamil Packaging ( https://boxpackaging.com/ ) of Mishawaka’s whopping 50th Anniversary over at the brand new South Bend Four Winds Casino’s Hotel-! The party celebrated Jamil’s employees, friends, business partners, & owner family themselves! Jamil is a family-run corrugated cardboard company here in Michiana (next door in Mishawaka, Indiana). The corporation/ corrugated cardboard factory was started here in South Bend by a family in the mid-70s whose names all started with the first letters of the company’s name (J-A-M-I-L), so family has always been integral to the brand. Twenty years after opening, Jamil was purchased by its current owner family in the mid-90s and the rest is history! After 50 years in business and 31 years of ownership by the current family, Jamil now has two major plants here in Mishawaka, Indiana and over in Nashville, Tennessee, employs hundreds from the local community, and donates many boxes to the cities of South Bend, Mishawaka, and more for all of the biggest events throughout the year-!
You may remember this corporation from their 45th Anniversary Party that we also photographed a Photobooth, Portraiture, and event photography for back 5 years ago at The Armory here in South Bend. If not, here’s a fun reminder: https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/jamil-south-bend-event-armory . Just as at their Anniversary party 5 years ago, this weekend’s festivities included some beautiful & creative corrugated cardboard structures that Jamil made at their corrugated cardboard factory. This time these cardboard structures were actually full pieces of furniture including 2 full-sized sit-able sleighs, an entire wall-sized early America color-printed winter scene backdrop behind one of these sleighs, entire 3D 6-foot lampposts throughout the entire Cocktail Hour, giant 3D snowmen throughout Cocktail Hour and the ballroom, a couple of the Cocktail Hour round 4.5 foot tall tables (base & everything- something they’ve done for decades), the small color-printed gift boxes containing the hundreds of guests’ party favors (2 Jamil wine glasses), and all of the lamp post centerpieces during the dinner & dancing in the formal ballroom-! Cool, right?!
You may remember this venue in South Bend from us having photographed for the St. Joseph Humane Society’s Annual Gala a few months ago at the start of October, but if not you can check it out here: https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/casino-royale-gala-south-bend-humane-society-of-st-joseph-county . Since Jamil’s was an Anniversary Party and not a Gala, things went a little differently after Cocktail Hour over the weekend. Upon the start of the formal dinner, owner-daughter Amy welcomed guests and had her Jamil owner parents speak/ welcome guests. After wonderful speeches & welcomes from Dave & Mary Ellen, the Mayor of Mishawaka spoke and thanked Jamil for its business. To truly thank them Mishawaka officially named this and all future January 12ths as “Jamil Packaging Day”-! Having been honored, Amy called her 3 brothers up and the eldest gave a final speech/ thank you to their employees, wonderful patrons, and friends!
Soon enough it was time for dinner. Folks enjoyed their wonderful sirloin meals (with delicious salads, breads, and caramel apple cheesecake & chocolate mousse cake desserts) and the band started to play! Instead of having dancers perform, Jamil actually had a local live band play as they did at their last party (the 45th Anniversary)-! Folks started to filter onto the dance floor and it was an all-out dance fest for hours! About an hour & a half before the end of the evening, own-son Mark was called up on stage (being one of the two in the family who plays together/ creates songs at their weekly band practice) to play guitar with the band-! Everyone flocked to cheer him on as the band and he had a blast playing together on stage. Everyone tried to get an encore & 2nd song from him afterward, but he graciously handed the guitar back and everyone went back to all-out dancing to the band!
We covered 3 of their 5 hour 50th Anniversary Party, then got to celebrate with everyone for the last couple hours of the party-! We had a few tables of family & loved ones there, so we hung out with our older “nieces & nephews,” cousins, and family friends hopping over to the venue’s Photobooth, dance floor, dinner & desserts, and general fun!
Thanks so much to Jamil Packaging for having us yet again capture a momentous Anniversary Celebration for you all & a huge congratulations on 50 years (and official “Jamil Packaging Day” every January 12th in Mishawaka)-! ((We hope that you all got some well-deserved & well-needed rest post party clean-up! Expect your final Proofing Gallery sometime in the next days to week))!
