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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Decorating with fabric: Organza

You often don’t see organza fabric outside of formal events, whether its used on the formally-dressed attendees or on the formally decorated facility. Either way, organza is luxurious, shiny and eye-catching — and comes in dozens of colors. My mom had great foresight when she invested in dozens of colors (including at least three shades of pink) and at least a few hundred bolts of organza. It’s a great fabric to use for decorating, but try not to giggle when you spot someone wearing the same fabric you’re using to decorate a table. It’s happened to me before, believe me.

The photo to the left, by the way, was lifted from circuscitykids.com.

I used at least half a dozen pieces of organza on my friend Cathy’s wedding, to great effect. But with her sweetheart table and backdrop, I only used two. Why? Because less can be more, and with the white English netting, that bubble-gum pink has no choice but to pop. Organza, however, can be difficult to decorate with because its fabric. Let’s face it — your clothes wouldn’t lay flat if it weren’t cut in a particular way, and the same goes for yards of fabric used for decorating. Except, you don’t cut fabric you use for decorating. So what do you do? You pin it and you bunch it and you gather it, hopefully in a symmetrical manner. That’s my philosophy in decorating setups like these. 🙂

Here are two colors of organza used together. I actually prefer to use different types of fabric on my tables — like English netting with organza — but that tends to limit my color choices. Most of my English netting is white, so for this gorgeous champagne color, out came the organza. This happens to be a long head table on the floor, with two shorter tables on a riser flanking a sweetheart table, plus that backdrop. And in case you were wondering, I don’t draw my tables in advance — I just seem to see them in my head when I get there and see blank tables.

Since I love the champagne organza so much, here’s another example from a job in Whittier. But besides that, I want to point out how easy it is to fluff organza. This sweetheart table here is decorated with just one long piece of organza, even though I decorated it a bit like a baker decorates a cake. I twisted and fluffed the organza along the edge of the table, as well as draping it along the table skirt. With a color like champagne, its not too overpowering. I wouldn’t recommend this technique with a stronger color like pink or purple.

And here’s a close up of how organza hangs. This photo, not previously posted before, was taken at a gazebo ceremony at the Almansor Court in Alhambra. Go to the post to see the finished set up, but this photo was taken from in front of the gazebo — basically the groom’s view as his bride walks down the aisle. The organza has a luminescent quality, really shining in the sun — and it doesn’t hurt that the skies were gorgeous that day. But organza should be used outdoors sparingly, since its relatively thick and wind can make it look and feel like a sail.
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Idyllic garden wedding at Almansor Court

Almansor Court in Alhambra is not on my list of my favorite places to go decorate. But I guess on a fresh spring day between rain storms in Los Angeles, it can actually look idyllic. But let me tell you, it takes a lot of hard work to get to idyllic on a sunny day – I guess I’d been so used to the dismal, chilly weather, I underestimated the sun and wore jeans to this particular job. Even if its just an hour of decorating, if its in the sun, you’re going to get sweaty and disgusting. Ah well.

Oh, and I worked here last Saturday. I’m posting late because I have not been feeling well and have been busy. So sue me.

The banquet folks, in the weeks before this particular wedding, had told my mom that she was going to be able to decorate in the morning, important for us since we set up so much for these weddings – all the draping, putting seat covers and sashes on, putting the flowers and lights in their final places. But that changed last minute because of some sort of Mary Kay gathering. Because I work the night shift, I was only able to decorate the gazebo for the wedding and the backdrop. At promptly 3:10 I had to book it to get to work on time.

This picture, by the way, is of the departing gaggle of women from the Mary Kay group. One of the women decided to break out her camera phone as we decorated, which we all know I hate. The first time around, I just stopped what I was doing and glared at her. The second time, I actually got into the middle of the path and began flailing my arms and yelling, “Hi! Hello!” Yes. I’m crazy.

But at least there were the turtles. Heheh. And the lake didn’t even smell! Most other times I’ve decorated at Almansor Court, the lake has been stinky. Again, another perk about rain in Los Angeles…

And not only were there turtles, there were ducks and geese! Of course, none of them attacked me, thank God. I just took pictures of them from a safe distance – inside the gazebo.

I wanted to share this picture. Not because it’s particularly beautiful (though it is), not because the stargazers look vibrant (and they do), not because it’s difficult to hang a 5-pound flower arrangement from the front facade of a gazebo (and it is, so I didn’t do it, heheh)….

…but simply because right after I took the picture, I tripped backwards over this light and fell on my butt. Gracefully. No, not really. I fell on my butt, then on my elbow, as my mom called to me to help her with something or other.

But yes. This was a lovely garden wedding – at least before the guests arrived. I didn’t stick around, but hopefully the wind (which was quite strong that day) didn’t knock over any of these stands.

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