After twenty years of creating events across the globe, Christopher Confero still proudly calls Birmingham home. Since launching CONFERO after graduating from Auburn University in 2007, Confero has remained steadfast in his desire to build a life that reflects his values: an enduring work ethic and a drive for excellence. “We work hard for our clients and creative partners,” says Confero. “Our portfolio represents a range of diverse designs with creative integrity in mind. Every project is specific to the individuals who trust us with their most important milestones.”
Confero’s work in Birmingham has been built on a foundation of his relationships with respected peers and heroes. On a summer day, you may easily find him at Bottega, sipping an Orange Thing or enjoying a slice of coconut cake. The patio there has served as a crossroads for conversations among his clients, friends, and family, and where those three intersect all at once. “I went to Highland’s for dinner before my high school senior prom in 2003,” says Confero. “As a kid from Jasper, I was starstruck. How lucky I am, 25 years later, to call Pardis and Frank Stitt great friends and work alongside them. Sitting at my corner bar seat in Bottega feels like home to me. Seeing Pardis come around the corner with a warm smile and a lot to say—there is nothing better in this world.”
Dinner at Bottega always pairs well with a show, and Confero is an avid theatre patron locally and abroad. As a theatre kid and a former member of the Auburn University Singers, Confero enjoys incorporating theatrical elements into every event, from lighting cues and musicality to custom set pieces. The productions at Red Mountain Theatre Company inspire Confero to bridge his love of showmanship on stage with fully realized concepts in an event space. Roy Lightner, RMTC’s Singh Artistic Director, has played a major role in allowing creatives like Confero to enjoy world-class art at a local venue.
When it comes to finishing touches, Confero cherishes his career-long friendship with Mandy Majerik, proprietor of PropHouse Birmingham. Majerik’s impressive collection of rentals and art objét has become an industry standard in the Southeast and has been home to some collaborative creations with Confero through the years.
“Mandy and I go back nearly two decades before PropHouse was born, and HotHouse was us each day,” says Confero. “That is, until her mother, Francis Majerik (whom we lovingly call Spook), would arrive with her famous cornbread salad or other homemade treats for lunch. There are colleagues, and then there are true friends. Those you call on to celebrate the highs and lows, that you champion from afar as you both grow together. That is the connection Mandy and I share.”
The relationships he has fostered in Birmingham have made his work beyond Alabama shine. His Southern upbringing, matched with the lessons he has learned throughout his career, positions him well to represent Alabama afar, from ballrooms in Beverly Hills to grand estates in Scotland. Confero admits this wasn’t the world he was born into, but rather that hard work has opened the doors. More than freshly pressed linen napkins at every guest’s seat, Confero also firmly believes that investing well in the human aspect of an experience is imperative.
More than ever, Confero is ready to apply what has inspired and shaped him to international fêtes. While one hand shall be orchestrating and transforming spaces afar, the other will continue tending his garden here at home. His role as publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Alabama Weddings since 2020 keeps him on the move across the state as he marries global influence with Southern charm.
There are colleagues, and then there are true friends. That is the connection Mandy and I share.
Sitting at my corner bar seat in Bottega feels like home to me. Seeing Pardis come around the corner with a warm smile and a lot to say — there is nothing better in this world.
A hallmark of his work is incorporating theatrical elements into every event — from lighting cues and musicality to custom set pieces.