Rocket Science Weddings and Events

At long last, Cylinder Thursday is back, and with gusto! Now, loyal reader, you may have a sense of deja vu when looking at this entry. I did indeed do an entry with an orange cylinder made like the cylinders you see here. However, I think this is worthy of its own post because here you can see the cylinders in action, and in TECHNICOLOR!

Tonight was a great open house at the Chowgirls' Parlor. They were celebrating getting their liquor license as well as the unveiling of this great, urban event space. The Parlor is perfect for parties of 40-60 people, who want an intimate art atmosphere. The art on the walls currently is by Chank Fonts, but a little bird told me the next show may feature the super talented Josie Lewis.

A lot of people put a lot of work in to making this party great, including: Connie Duglin Specialty Linens, 1012 photo, Sweets Bakeshop, Two Smart Cookies, Muddy Paws Cheesecake, and all the staff at Chowgirls.

There was a great turnout, it was fun (as always!) to chat with Katrina of Studio Laguna, Matt of The Traveling Photo Booth, Sally (and Maia) of La Vie Photography, and the Wedding Guys Matthew and Bruce.

Without further ado, here are some technicolor cylinders and some pictures of the party.

Yes, those are fuzzy fur linens (faux of course!).

This blue color was probably my favorite.

By the end of the night, the logo cookie was the only one left.

Well, it is officially that time of year. I can't go anywhere without hearing Christmas music or seeing stuff I need to buy. Additionally, the emails are flying trying to coordinate schedules with our four families. There doesn't seem to be enough time or energy to go around!

I missed Cylinder Thursday yesterday because I was out of town. I know, I know, I should've posted it from the beach. Sorry. And next Thursday is Thanksgiving, so I am sure to be in a turkey induced coma and not thinking about cylinders.

My promise to you, dear reader, is I will try my hardest to post a few thoughtful and fun blogs during this holiday season. There will be a Cylinder Thursday or two, and some great pics of my recent conference and events. Maybe I can even throw in some planning tips. But you have to make a promise to me. You need to relax, slow down, and enjoy the holidays. We can get so wrapped up in everyting that we forget to take time and cherish what the holidays are all about. Family, celebration and making lasting memories. Cheers to a happy holiday season!

First off, I need to apologize for the quality of these photos. I really wanted a sweet all white tablescape to put these on and to have some amazing photographer like Becca Dilley shoot it, but all I have is my iPhone. (Someday I will have some client who wants to do a funky all-white wedding, and when I do, I will post nice pics of these cylinders then!)

Rice. A wedding staple, but not any more. Traditionally tossed (or hurled) at the newlyweds as the exit the church, this practice is all but banned these days. The poor birdies can't digest the rice and it kills them. Moreover, you don't want to get a piece of rice stuck in your false eyelashes or down your dress. I also have a huge flinching problem, so a whole line of people throwing rice at me would probably not be the best idea.

Here is a way to take a "wedding tradition" and make it new, rice cylinders! I used a small tea light in a metal casing, but you could use a votive or a small gas lamp (both burn longer than a tea light). The rice covers up the not pretty part of the candle so all you see is the flame.

White Rice CylinderThis is with flash, so you can see how cool the white looks.

Here we are without flash, so you can really see the glow of the candle, how romantic!

Here I put it against a white background, but it kind of just looks yellow. But at least you can see that even white on white, the rice has enough dimension to create a lot of visual impact.

Sometimes, I like a little formality, which is why I wish we had high tea like they do in Europe. What a great reason to take a break and hang out and eat crustless sandwiches. I have tea parties all the time with my daughter, so for this Cylinder Thursday I thought I would do a tea party theme.

The obivous use for this centerpiece is a tea party or dinner party, but I also love it for some event that has an "Alice in Wonderland" theme. If you were doing an "Alice in Wonderland", topsy turvy wedding, you could have a coffee station set up with the glasses like this (next to your topsy turvy, whimsical cake).

All you need is cylinders, tea bags, and cups & saucers. I am showcasing my grandmother's china, but you can also rent vintage place settings at Revived Tableware.

I have six cylinders with a cup and saucer on top. I think one cylinder per place setting (i.e. six people at the table, six cylinder/cup combos). When people show up for your tea party, they can take their cup and saucer off the cylinder to use. The tea bags add color to the cylinders, but are also functional. The guests can select the tea of their choice from the cylinder. Just now I thought about adding white and/or brown sugar cubes to a cylinder... wish I had thought of that when I was doing the shoot! Oh well... you can do it.

An interactive centerpiece is a pretty cool idea if I do say so myself. Once the cups and saucers are gone, the centerpiece becomes a little bare, but it does allow for good conversation since you can see everyone across the table. You might think of filling the cylinders with something (fresh floral, doilies, etc.) to add interest even after the cup and saucer come off.

Ah, the inspiration for my Cylinder Thursdays, the cranberry cylinder. I saw this in Martha Stewart Weddings so many years ago I can't remember, and I thought to myself, "what a creative use of a glass cylinder!"

I love the simple and unexpected elegance of the cranberries in the cylinder. Two things about this cylinder that I think everyone should know:

1. It takes more cranberries than you think AND cranberries aren't cheap anymore. (my 16 oz bag was $3.49 and the bag would do 1.5 seven inch cylinders completely full like in the the picture below)

2. After awhile the cranberries bleed and turn the water red. So, don't fill them up too early! The water stays clear for a couple hours. This cylinder works really well for a fall or winter event, it will be clear through the daylight hours (as long as your event is in the evening) and as it gets dark or you dim the lights in the room for dancing, you can barely see the red tinted water. I would imagine most guests wouldn't see a change. Of course, if you fill the cylinder completely full, the red water isn't noticeable at all.

Here we have the 10.5" cylinder with some cranberries, not completely full. Cranberries float (duh!) and I like the look of the water and the cranberries, I think it has a cool texture and if you have a linen with some visual interest it doesn't take away from that.

Ooh, fancified!

This is one 16 oz. bag of cranberries in 7" and 10.5" cylinders. I wanted to show just cranberries plain in a cylinder too... I like the non-candle look for a more casual event. You can pair it with cylinders with other fruits, or maybe red rose petals.

Completely full with cranberries. You have to use the candle to keep the cranberries down, so the large 3" floating candle works best (as seen here).

I realized that I don't show a lot of different heights in my cylinders, so I wanted to do that here. This look is really cool too. And would work well if you didn't have a lot of cranberries (but you have to have a long lighter!).