Rocket Science Weddings and Events

Setting aside the fact that today isn't Thursday, I am finally getting back in to the swing of my super popular Cylinder Thursday posts. (I would've posted on Thursday but was having some technical difficulties). This past week I got to spend a few amazing days in FABULOUS Las Vegas at the uber-luxe Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Engage! a luxury wedding business summit. Expect to see a lot of great stuff coming from this trip, I was inspired by so many people and things, like this bathroom arrangement at the hotel. (Who says cylinders can't be luxury?!)

Whenever I think of a single stem of orchids, I either go with the inexpensive dendrobium orchid or the more pricey (and bigger) cymbidium orchid. I forget about this amazing beauty, the James Story orchid. It is modern, sophisticated and red!

I cannot believe it has been almost a month since I blogged! Good thing I have an intern starting soon so I can focus on blogging more (or make her do it!).

I did this with Emily and Tracy's (award-winning, hearten-featured) and Katie and Nick's weddings, and I thought it was cool. Maybe they did too... Anyway, here are a few of my favorite Instagram photos I took for Soraya and Kevin's wedding a few weeks back. It was such a beautiful day! I cannot wait to see the pro pics by Roee Dori, but I will have to wait a bit longer. In the meantime, enjoy my amateur photography skills.

Well, it is almost the New Year. I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for Rocket Science, and Cylinder Thursday! Maybe my new year resolution will be to do more than one blog post a week. Maybe.

Here is my ornament cylinder for you. As you may know, I love stripes, so I have lots and lots of striped ornaments. My tree is red, white and silver. I think the combination looks striking in the cylinder! You could put these cylinders anywhere, fireplace mantle above the stockings, as a centerpiece for your Christmas table... and for my Jewish friends, change out the red ornaments for blue and mix in a menorah!

Now is the best time of year to stock up on ornaments for your decorating. All the stores have their ornaments on sale. I like Target's multi-packs.

Whatever you celebrate, I hope your holiday season is/was filled with good food, family, friends, joy and laughter.

Where'd all the presents go?!

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.

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!).