THE SPECIAL EVENT SHOW

This week I have been attending and volunteering with The Special Event Show - http://thespecialeventshow.com/ - which is a conference and trade show for event professionals. It's been a great week and I'm learning so much and have been exposed to so many great ideas!




Today I volunteered to get ready for the Welcome Event at the World of Coca Cola. A tent was constructed for the entertainment and party area.



Here is the section that I helped worked on. I love the colors - copper, peach, browns, and a little touch of animal print. I also really liked the use of the feathers. And I must say the carnations looked great. I've always hated carnations, but they are really starting to grow on me!





The Blue Section

The Ultra Hip Dance Floor

Buffet Centerpieces

It's SNOWING! As we finished up for the day, what do you know, it started snowing!

TIFFANY'S 30TH BIRTHDAY

Tiffany turned 30 and wanted a special evening with friends and family to celebrate. She didn't know where to start for a theme or decor. All she could tell me was that she liked the colors aqua and lime, butterflies and bling! And that's where I come in.
(Photos courtesy of Snap Atlanta Photography- http://snapatlanta.smugmug.com/)

INVITES

The invitation always sets the tone of the event. It gives the guests an idea of what's to come. When the invitation is unique and interesting that guests know to expect a great event.

For Tiffany's birthday we used the color scheme she liked and incorporated the butterflies and bling with aqua and lime rhinestones. You'll be able to see later how this helped us to develop the palette and decor for the birthday party.

These beautiful invites were made by my great friend Alicia at Artistique Designs.

CUPCAKE TOWER

A great way to save money but still have a beautiful cake display is to do a cupcake tower.

Here is a close-up of the birthday cake. We used lime tinted icing and placed aqua and lime butterflies as accents and then trimmed the bottom in matching polka dot ribbon.

Yummm.... I love this close-up picture of the cupcake. I dream about these cupcakes they're so good. Anyone who has been to my one of my events and tasted the cakes always remembers them and often talk about them long after the event is over. The cake and cupcakes were made by my favorite bakery Sugar Plum - http://sugarplum-visions.com/

FLOWERS

For flower arrangements we used hydrangea and gerbera daisies that we tinted lime and aqua and placed into blume boxes - http://www.blumebox.com/. Blume boxes are a great way to display flowers in a disposable box which makes it easy for guests to take the flowers home after the event. People often complain about the flowers being a waste. After this party, the birthday girl was able to take the arrangements to enjoy at home. The blume box arrangements were made by my florist Angie at Birch Blooms - http://birchblooms.com/

I accented the bottom of the box in matching ribbon and of course had to add a little bling with a rhinestone "T" for Tiffany.

The arrangements had butterflies "flying" out of the top. These are the same butterflies used on the cake.

On the tables we had simple bud vases with lime and aqua gerbera daisies.PARTY FAVORS

Party favors are often a source of debate for my clients. Some feel (particularly men) why should they have to give a gift to their guests when they're already paying for everything! I personally feel that party favors are just a little touch to let your guests know how special they are to you. Favors don't have to be extravagant or expensive. For Tiffany's party I took a small white favor box, tied with ribbon and used a rhinestone "T" on top of a lime cardstock. Inside each box was a chocolate truffle.

CANDLELIGHT

Besides flowers, to me lighting is the second most important design element of an event. The easiest and most inexpensive way to add ambiance to your event is to uses candles. We used an assortment of candles to add color, interest and ambient lighting to the space.