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?

Continue reading →

Candle and lantern guest table centerpieces

Candles, lanterns, Christmas lights — they all add ambiance to a wedding. Whenever you can, you should incorporate some kind of light with your decorations. So I scoured Flickr for a few ideas on how to get a lighting element onto your guest tables.

Flickr photo by Casual Chin

The arrangement above is your wedding magazine-ready type candle arrangement. It’s got the pretty pastel pink and cream roses, orchids and the silvery lantern with the stars on the windows. I can’t quite tell, but it looks like this venue was possibly on a patio, so maybe an arrangement like this wouldn’t have as much impact as some of the others I found. Continue reading →

Tips for setting a beautiful guest table

At a wedding, where does a guest spend the most time? Possible answers include A) the dance floor, B) the (open/cash) bar and C) their tables. There’s not a lot you can do about decorating the dance floor and the only thing you can really decorate a bar with is pretty bottles of alcohol. So you should spend your time and energy decorating the guest tables.

Flickr photo by lisarunolfson

The table above is super fancy. I’m not suggesting that my tips will make your guest tables look like this, but you can take different things from this example and the others I found on Flickr to make your wedding look all the nicer.

Continue reading →

Silvery and chic wedding reception flowers

One of my favorite color combinations for a wedding is purple and silver — to me, the pairing is sexy and classy at the same time. This wedding reception at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena demonstrates the sexy and classy elements very nicely.

Photos by Hoang

Just check out this room. I love the purple lighting on the walls, love the silver table cloths with those silver chairs, and the flowers are so lush and awesome. You want a closeup, I know.

Continue reading →

A royal reception: Buckingham Palace

“So, where was your wedding reception?”

“Oh, Buckingham Palace.”

“…Oh.”

Seriously, is there anything else you need to say about your reception if its being held at Buckingham Palace?

Flickr photo by jimmyharris

Continue reading →

Decorate your reception entrance

In a down economy, I know its farfetched to think you can pay for an entirely separate floral arrangement just for the entrance of your reception, right? Still. It’s nice to check things out. Plus, your florist may just want to throw in a nice, fancy arrangement just for your entrance — its sort of a calling card and a hint of things to come when you first step up to the door of the ballroom where your wedding reception is being held.

My mom really liked these kinds of arrangements. I think allowed her to really stretch her creative muscles, because you can incorporate a more elaborate design in a bigger arrangement, as opposed to the smaller guest table centerpiece. As you can tell, my mom loved her tropical flowers, including ginger, heliconia and sexy pink heliconia (that’s what she called it! But its not pictured above, sorry). My mom also loved to trim and braid huge palm and ti leaves. She took special classes to learn those techniques.

Continue reading →

Different flavors of sweetheart tables

Its no secret that I like the sweetheart table versus the head table with all the bridal attendants or sponsors. I think it highlights the couple-of-honor, and for a decorator, it allows us to create a nice focal point in the room.

Photo by Flickr’s mdunn

But there are some instances in which it won’t be effective. Above, you’ve got a lovely little sweetheart table, but its sort of swallowed by that fabulous view. In a case like this, a slightly larger table probably would have filled out the space more.

Continue reading →