Last night was The Laurel Apartment’s Bonfire and Blues themed Finale Event for their Lovin the Lou contest. It was the first ever event in the Laurel Gardens, with food and drinks sponsored by other current and soon to be Mercantile Exchange District businesses: wine and beer courtesy of Robust, pizza courtesy of Pi, and dinner and desserts courtesy of the Embassy Suites Hotel.

It was a gorgeous scene with a unique spin on the traditional bonfire theme.  The “bonfire” was set up in the middle of a wading pool with candles floating all around it. There was a buffet of S’mores and hot chocolate, which actually looked more heavenly than I had imagined a S’mores buffet could look. And to complete the event, the music was not your normal St. Louis party DJ style music or your traditional bonfire style country music. Instead, it was Blues music performed live by one of St. Louis’ well known, local Blues musicians, Big Mike Aguirre.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the reason for the party was to surprise two lucky contestants with free rent at The Laurel for the amazing videos they created for the Lovin the Lou contest. Along with those prizes, there were 5 other fun and unique prizes awarded. Here is the low down on who won:

Best Use of Music: Dana Kay for her Beatles themed video

Best Guest Appearance: Becky for her appearances by the Channel 5 News Team

Best Use of Food: Lee for his grandma’s amazing cookies (check out Twista eating them in his video)

Best STL Style: Jessie for her variety of photos at St. Louis events and Jonathan and Shannon for their St. Louis Cardinal spirit

Fan Favorite: Jenna and Todd-The fans loved their video Our Kinda Town!

Now for the winners of Free Rent at The Laurel Apartments:

1st Place winning a year of free rent: Ria and Chad for their amazing video Finding You in The Lou

2nd Place winning 6 months of free rent: Mike and Tabitha for their fabulous video Love in the Lou

This was an amazing contest with outstanding videos from all of the contestants who entered and the fact that there were so many fantastic videos, each with a unique perspective on why they love St. Louis was truly inspiring. This contest was just the start of what’s to come for Lovin the Lou and as the MX District grows and thrives, there are sure to be many more amazing events downtown to look forward to.

While all of the videos are worth watching in full, here is a fun video mash up that captures the creativity and hard work put into all of these videos and their love for St. Louis.

 

Brought to you by Mills Properties