Two backdrops and flower balls on branches

I haven’t draped a wedding in years, so I didn’t know what it would be like to put organza back in my hands again. Thankfully, its like riding a bike — you really don’t forget how to do it. I didn’t need to do any tables, which in my opinion is more work, so doing two backdrops was a snap. The day wasn’t without its complications, as is the case with any other wedding, of course. But all in all, it all turned out well.

The decorators happened to have a personal stake in this wedding — the groom was the brother of Sophia Truong, my brother’s design partner. Above is the photo backdrop, in the lobby outside the reception. The location of this backdrop was a pickle — first it was opposite the entryway, then it was along the far adjacent wall, then we had to move it all the way next to the entryway. That would be why that last column seems to be a little too far from the rest, a fact I only noticed when looking over the photos.

And, I’d like to point out that my sister did the majority of the work on this backdrop. I mostly just finished it off. I think I’ve taught her pretty well!

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Want to come see me drape a backdrop?

I’ll be decorating a wedding this weekend for my brother. I’ll be decorating at a hotel in Universal City, which is pretty central, so it occurred to me if anyone here is really interested in seeing me drape, you might want to come on down. In exchange, all I ask is that you help me out by taking some photos or video so I can share it here.

Interested? Leave me a comment and I’ll give you the info.

Hang decorations from the ceiling

Sometimes, the ceilings of reception halls and hotel ballrooms are ugly. So having some decorations up high is nice, gives your guest something interesting to look out when they pass out from dancing so much at your wedding (hopefully!).

Flickr photo by The Prop Factory

For example, I love this dance floor from The Prop Factory out of Boston. It appears that they erected this open canopy over the dance floor in order to hang varying sizes of red, white, pink and purple paper daisies. If you’re wondering how they got the flowers to hang over the open area, I am betting they hung clear fishing line in a grid over the dance floors so they could hang more flowers. So nice!

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Head table layout and decorations

When I was decorating weddings, my primary concern was — how are the head tables set up? That was my main job, of course, and it mattered because the number of head tables and the amount of time I had to decorate impacted how elaborate the decorations would be. Continue reading

Awesome ceiling decorations

Sometimes, you have to find the right venue if you want to have fabric draped from the ceiling in an awesome way. For example, the Altadena Country Club decorates the ceilings of at least two of its banquet rooms with crystal organza.

Flickr photo by Hoang

This banquet room is apparently the venue’s Victorian Room. Besides the exposed beams (which are already pretty cool on their own), the room features a very large, dangling silver chandelier. And from the chandelier, the venue has draped crystal organza and Christmas lights all across the ceiling, in a sunburst pattern. How awesome would this look at your reception, hmmm?

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Decorating with fabric up high

Draping really changes the way any venue looks and makes it fit for a wedding. Take this Malibu house, for example. Without the blue and turquoise organza, its simply a house — albeit a very nice one, having a party. But with the draping, there’s no doubt that this party is a wedding.

What I truly love is when the venue lends itself for draping up high. Draping on tables is great, but draping the banisters of the second floor balcony? Awesome.

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Reader question: What materials to drape with?

So it seems there has been a lot of reader traffic on this blog while I’ve been busy! In the past week that I’ve been busy with other commitments related to work and a non-profit organization I’m involved with, I got my first reader question. How exciting!

Here is Becky’s question:

WOW! Your designs are wonderful! I was hoping you could give me a suggestion of a website, book, or whatever to learn to drape for decorating. My son is getting married in June on the historic Halley’s Bluff over looking the Osage River. (Missouri). His bride to be’s family owns the property. (Actually has a little cave under the bluff where Jesse James had a hide out!). I purchased a beautiful wrought iron gazebo from Sam’s club for the event. (I will have item in my yard after the wedding.). What kind of fabric do you suggest for draping? I have heard tulle, but than also read tulle “was tacky”. Voile is another fabric I have heard, but very expensive. Does tulle work for you? Any suggestions? I will definitely mark your site as a favorite! By the way, inour area we do not have anybody who does this for hire. Thanks. Becky

This is a good question. There are a lot of fabrics out there, but they all drape, or lie, differently on different surfaces. There are some better for laying against a table, others that look better hanging freely, others that…well, you get the picture. Let me give you a few examples.

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