Get creative with tables

I love a great table.   At Christmas each year  I have a different linen and decor color theme and once the lights go down and the candles are lit, I love it.  It creates a mood and seems to make people linger longer at the table, chat, and enjoy, even long after the food is eaten or put away.

With weddings we are able to create table moods also, obviously the floral/linens and candles, but depending on how many guests you have and the size of your room you can also play with the tables.  Instead of all rounds, add some squares or rectangles in there, rounds can seat up to 12 normally if using 72″ rounds and chivari style chairs (some banquet chairs are too big and you need to max at 11 or 10), you want energy so at a 72″ round try not to do 9s and 8s and if doing 60″ rounds, once you do 6s and 7s they look empty.  Squares do 8, and some rectangles (if the hotel does not have squares and you don’t wish to rent them) can be kept at 8 or go to 10.

 I love a Royal Dining table and do these a lot, either for couples with their parents and immediate families, or bridal party with the couple or we add the bridal parties partners, sometimes we end up with 24 or so, great energy but you have to make it look fabulous on top too.  A couple of tall pieces, as it should be the table across from where the guests enter so their eyes are drawn to it, something low in the center and then tons of elevated and low candles, floating flowers with petals or orchids scattered.  Anyone who looks at it wants to sit there.  Generally we do this on the floor and don’t elevate it, makes it seem accessible to other guests to come over and visit and again seems to allow people to want to linger and sit there, they aren’t on show.  Sometimes the guests at this table go the whole way around just like at home, sometimes we leave 6′  across from the b&groom open and sometimes we just put guests to the ends of the curves and leave the straight front completely open, not so great for conversation between everyone to everyone, but it all works.   I have done this style for as small as 6, you use the curved ends the hotel have and it softens the look and makes it feel like a dining room table at home, very intimate and loving.  I have also done it where the wedding was only for a total of 20-40 guests and we have everyone attending sitting at this table which gives us room around the room to do other things and makes everyone feel important and special, I love it when we get to do this version.  I have also done a 72″ round for bride/groom and their 4 guests where we just use 3/4 of the round of the table and leave the front open, great for florals and good view to them for pics during the toasts etc.

When we are in a large ballroom, we not only play with mixing rounds and squares, but I love to add a couple of large long rectangle tables on each side.  Either along the dancefloor or if three rows of tables, put it in the middle row, a big table for 24 or 30, great for the extended family to all sit together and again between the high and low centerpieces you may have on the other guest tables, you put some of each on this one, and voila a fabulous table combining a bit of everything else you have going on  .  I have one below to show you.

Remember, anything you can do differently to either the tables or decor that makes a guest stop and look, makes your wedding memorable and they will relay what they saw to someone they see at some point.  It doesn’t cost you any more to have different size tables (normally) so why not.

Till next time

Lisa

www.lisasimpsonweddings.com

714 305 7112

Add a comment July 5, 2010

June update

Here we are past the half way mark of 2010 now, wow the year seemed to be going so slowly and now it is running away.  Crazy.

Was up at the L’auberge in Beverly Hills for a luncheon, we sat rooftop and ate a scrumptious meal while looking over the Los Angeles area.  They tent part of the roof top so you can have a beautiful roof top event with a bit of everything, views, and romance.

I had a wedding for a lovely couple who I started working with late last year.  An ocean backdrop was her dream and we were able to bring her dream to a reality at the Waterfront Hilton in Huntington Beach.  They got married at the Gazebo ceremony site, then had cocktails and dinner/dancing at the Pacific Ballroom and Balcony.  Great staff/team on hand there at the hotel, and I had some of my favorite vendors working with us that day, I love it when my brides let me guide them when it comes to vendors, they really do end up with the best of best events due to the professionalism, quality, these folks offer, and I have already pre-screened them to where we know they fit within their budgets and we don;t have any nasty suprises.  Whew.  My bride also was asked if she would be interested in being in a tv wedding show, she said yes.  The show focuses on hair/makeup for the wedding day and the previews are filmed and then on the day they are filming through the getting ready hours, they cover her through her walk up the aisle and then they go away.  They are a bit intrusive in the getting ready time and require a bit of quiet during filming, but as long as you plan extra time and have nice and organised bridesmaids, then it all works out ok.  There are things to consider when you look at participating in any show, as it does make your experience very different to how it normally is, so you have to be willing to give that up.

June seemed to be a major tasting/hotel meeting month.  Always fun as we have everything pretty much detailed by that time, so once the food & beverage is picked, we just have to wait for the day to show up and see all the planning/visuals/hopes become a reality.

Had a couple of weddings at the Hyatt Huntington Beach that were fun.  One was a beautiful Indian bride marrying a football player, so a mix of cultures.  The decor was very hip/contemporary/modern.  Her colors were brown and lime green and everything matched/enhanced.

Then had another where the couple was so lucky to have mothers who helped enhance the celebration with the right elements, very upgraded linens/chairs/epod photo booths/lovely florals and great food and beverage.  A great bunch of guests who were there through the end of the event and then they still wanted to keep going, so off to the Red Chair Lounge they all went, gotta love it when they don’t want the night to end after 7 hours of celebrating!

Another favorite couple’s celebration just happened.  A lovely couple who knew each other years ago at high school, then reconnected a few years ago after their long term marriages had ended, and now here they are finally marrying each other.  We had such fun at the tasting, and then the floral and linen meeting got us really excited about how everything was going to end up looking.  They wanted all their guests to enjoy the celebration and made sure the food and beverage was great.  The couple were really into the celebration part of the event and also celebrating themselves and how happy they are, so getting to spend a good amount of time at cocktails with the guests was a priority.  What a great story they have, and so happy.  Around 180 of their family and friends were all there for the right reasons too.  So special.

Not sure what is happening this year, but I am doing my third wedding where I am orchestrating the processional and recessional at the church and handling the reception at the hotel.  Used to always be where there was a church lady, and most churches still do have them, but some churches are now having the couples find their own co-ordinators and sometimes even officiants, and just letting them do whatever they want to do but inside the church, rather than having to use a hotel or outdoor location.  The last one I did, we actually bused the guests from the hotel to the church so we knew they would all be there and on time (plus they were all from Texas and in house at the hotel so made it convenient), and then they all got back to the hotel at the same time too, made it so easy, but also relaxing for the guests to not be dealing with the S CA freeways, there was 40 guests total.  A lovely intimate group who all made the effort to come and celebrate with the couple.  Gotta love that.

That’s all I have for you now.  Till next time

Lisa

www.lisasimpsonweddings.com

714 305 7112

Add a comment July 4, 2010

Frank Salas Photographer

I have had the pleasure of working with Frank for many years.  He is a true gentleman and a guy who goes over and above as you will have read in some past blogs.

Today I am going to showcase a couple of the shots that I call icon Frank Salas shots.  He is the first photographer I ever saw take this shot on the beautiful inlaid marble floor at the base of the grand staircase at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna, now I see others taking the same shot or I suggest it to them, but it will always be franks shot to me.

Here it is as the colors are:  Isn’t it beautiful

Now here it is in black and white, can you believe it looks even better, hard to choose between the two as to which is the most fabulous.  Love it!!

Till next time

Lisa

www.lisasimpsonweddings.com

714 305 7112

Add a comment July 2, 2010