A Virtual Martini with Dulany from Gala Cloths by Dulany

Let's Have a Virtual Martini with Dulany Noble from Gala Cloths by Dulany!

Share a fun fact about your home life.

My husband Jim and I live on a small horse farm in Upperco. We have 3 cats, two dogs and numerous horses. My daughter, Deloise, is a horse trainer and I foxhunt. I am one of three Masters and also hunt the hounds. You can find me in the hunt field on Wednesdays and Sundays from September through March.

How did you get started in business?

I was a theatre major at Towson University and although I loved working in the theatre, it was not conducive to a marriage with a child. I searched and searched for a job and fell into the rental business. I believe special events and theatre share a lot of similarities. I loved the rental business from the first day of my very first job as a rental consultant. After managing several rental stores, I decided it was time to start my own company and Gala Cloths was born.

What has been the highlight of your career to date?

Some of the events we have done have been absolutely over the top. The Baltimore Symphony Gala for over 1000 people was an enormous success. I think the highlight of my career was to be named the 2005 NACE National Affiliate of the Year at the NACE National Conference.

Give us your favorite wedding or event planning tip.

I really like to see clients mix and match linens so things don't all look the same. I think the same can be done with flowers, especially in a tent wedding. When we did my daughter's wedding, no two tables were alike. Dale from J. J. Cummings made the tables look as though I had taken things from my house and made beautiful arrangements with flowers I had in my gardens. It was most charming.

When you travel, what is the one thing you cannot live without?

I can't travel without a book to read.

Tell us some of your favorite places to shop both local and out-of-town.

I love shopping in Greenspring Station. The Sporting Life always has things I like. Of course, the best stationary in town is at the Pleasure of Your Company. In New York, I try not to miss Lord and Taylor.

And we must know your favorite local restaurant.

Well, there are two in my neighborhood that I would recommend, Mia Carolina and the Harryman House. Both are fairly reasonably priced and it is hard not to have a good meal in either restaurant. For the over the top meal, I would go to the Antrim.

Let's say you have a day off and you are able to do anything at all for 24 hours (money is no object). What would that day look like and who would you be with?

I would take my best girlfriends, Judy, Betsy, and Leslie and go to Palm Beach in the dead of winter. We would stay at the Breakers, spend a few hours on the beach, do some shopping on Worth Avenue, go to a spa in the late afternoon for a facial, massage and hair styling with make up for a night on the town. We would choose some fabulous 5 star restaurant for dinner and then our chauffeur would take us to South Beach in Miami for some night club action! Ain't life grand!!