NYC Cake Girl

If you are throwing a party, you always want your guests to have a good time.  However in order for that to happen, we have to make sure we utilize all of our guests’ senses.  We “feast” with our eyes first.  Decorating things in a particular way can help evoke feelings to better enhance our guests’ experience.

Using certain colors, arranging furniture a certain way, using textured fabrics, dramatic lighting, candlelight – these are a few things that can really make or break a great event design.

When Ed sits down to start discussing our clients design needs for an event, he asks them how they want it to FEEL.  Our clients may use the words cozy, intimate, inviting, romantic – these are great adjectives to describe how something feels.  So how can this translate into a design?  Create small furniture vignettes for your guests’ to sit around during the cocktail hour with lots of low, soft candlelight and flowers.  This is an inviting, cozy feeling that inspires conversation.  When you start bringing in the other senses:  sound (good music) and smell (delicious food) you have now have the makings for a memorable event.  People are going to remember how the event looked and the yummy food they ate, but they will also remember the great time that they had, and that feeling is happy.  Mission accomplished.

This is a great example of using your senses to design a space. This is the Terrace Room in the famous Plaza Hotel. Our client wanted to use this space to for the ceremony. They wanted a romantic, cozy feeling that gave a nod to the great outdoors. Ed used every aspect of the room as well as the equipment that was used to do the installation. He used the staging truss to make large trees to create the Chuppa, he hung chandeliers 8 inches of the floor with soft lighting, the bride walked down a mirrored aisle and there was candle light that surrounded the room. The mirrored aisle reflected all of the warm light that was in the room giving that warm, cozy intimate feeling.

I really do love the industry I work in.  I get to feed my need for all things creative and I get to work with some of the most talented, creative people out there.  Not only do I get to learn from these amazing individuals, I get to enjoy their visual creations.

Let me introduce you to my friend Jove.  He is the owner and creative director of Jove Meyer Events.  He will plan and design your event from start to finish.  Jove is creative, friendly and really pays attention to every little detail.  His designs are whimsical, thoughtful and fun.  I know a lot of planners/designers in this industry so I wanted to know what makes him different from all of the rest…

This is my friend Jove Meyer. Not only is he a talented planner & designer but a good person and great friend. (How freakin’ cute is he! I just want to squish him!)

1. What is your approach to planning an event?  My first step is to get to know the client as intimately as possible, ideally over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. I want to know their intent, their vision and goals for the event. I strive to create authentic experiences by incorporating as much of the clients personal favorites as possible with a touch of my own flair. I approach the planning of an event by making sure I plan details for all five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight and sound) of the event. By touching all five senses the event becomes an experience not to be forgotten!

2. What is your favorite part of the planning process?  I love the design aspect of planning an event. Taking in all of the elements and creating a  look and feel for the space, transforming things to create memorable moments! I love planning unexpected moments and details! I love the joy on the clients face when they see our vision come to life!

I love how Jove gave this wedding in the woods a chic and whimsical feel.

3. Any fun trends that you are embracing this season?  This season I am all about color blocking flowers, using single flower types and using unique vessels for vases. I love using vases of various shapes, sizes and textures and filling them with only one type of flower, a single stem when possible! Then I place the various single flower arrangements together to create a visually beautiful look! Its simple, chic and elegant!

Jove in his own words…

I have been planning events since I was a kid. Starting with family holiday parties and birthdays I would decorate the house with whatever I could find or make! My first job in high school was in an event company where I learned all about balloons and flowers. We designed and planned events of all shapes and sizes for Disney, Walmart, Dave and Busters and many others.

I officially started my own company after planning my best friends wedding in 2007. She called me one day and said she could not think of anyone better to do it, I was honored and fond myself loving every moment of the process and knew this was what I wanted to do with my life!

My company was born out of a passion for event and wedding planning! We are a boutique event planning company based out of New York City and we provide full service planning, partial planning as well as month of / day of wedding coordination.

Here is Jove with one of his couples.  Please take the time to visit Jove’s website here.

The Macy’s Flower Show is a beautiful display of floral creativity.  This year’s theme was the painted garden and Ed was asked to create a “bouquet of the day” (a very large floral show piece) to be featured in Macy’s for a portion of the show.  Of course we always see the final product, but let’s take you behind the scenes…

The folks over at Macy’s sent us over the poster for this year’s show and where Ed was to draw his inspiration.

The poster had a very Asian feel to it and Ed decided to be inspired by the Chingmai Flower Show in Thailand.

Here is the “bouquet” Ed designed for the flower show.

The next step in our process was creating templates so we could create the base and placement of the flowers to complete the design.

Here is the structure being put together in our warehouse. The photo on the far right shows one of the more intricate details that will be placed in the final design on site.

On the left, our crew on site putting all of the pieces together. On the far right some of the finished details of the bouquet.  Flowers used were roses and various kinds of orchids.

Here is the final bouquet. It stood about 8 feet high and at the widest point 4 feet across. Isn’t she a beauty???

Springtime.  One of my favorite seasons is here, where color comes back into our lives.   I am also happy when a bride is not afraid to add a bit of color to her personal flowers on her wedding day.  It adds richness to the environment and not to mention is really beautiful to look at.

Here are a few tips when picking colorful, personal flowers:

- Chat with your florist/designer about what is season, not only is it a bit more budget friendly buying a flower that is in season, but you will have more variety to choose from.

- Choose greens and fillers that create some interest and texture.  It’s those little bright pops of color that create interesting moments in your bouquet.

- Mix up your colors!  You might be surprised how bright lush colors can coordinate with each other.  Be bold and try different and interesting color combinations that excite you.

- Pick a fun “wrap” for the handle of your personal flowers.  It can be a bright colored textured ribbon or maybe it’s a piece of left over fabric from one of your bridesmaids dress.  This finishes the look of any personal bouquet.  This is also a fun area to add mementos, maybe a charm with your grandparent’s pictures or the silk buttons from your great grandmother’s dress.

Bright colors and seasonal flowers make this a fun “springtime” bouquet. Tulips, Ranunculus, Roses and Mimosa are great for this time of year.  Ed choose a bright yellow grosgrain ribbon to tie in the bright yellow of the Mimosa.