Thursday, September 29, 2011

Event Inspiration Boards

Inspiration Boards are a great way to express your design style and vision. It really tells a story of your personality as a couple and helps combine all your ideas into one place. It creates a balance and focus of your overall design scope that will really set the tone for your event.

Inspiration Boards allow you to compose your thoughts through pictures and colors, which can be very helpful as you travel down the planning road.

It is a great guide for everyone involved to take notice to and ties everything together.

Try creating a board of your own through programs such as Google’s Picasa. Pinterest.com is another outlet where you can compile all your ideas into one place or divide up each décor section into many boards.







Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Event at the Glasshouses!

The JG team has been installing for an event at the Glasshouses yesterday and today. A few more of the key decor pieces are coming tomorrow morning to complete the look for the event, but I wanted to give everyone a sneak peak of the room.
(To be honest, I couldn't wait to share with everyone!)

I enjoy taking the before & after shots of the room. It still amazes me to see how all the different elements come together and create a totally different environment.



It is hard to see, but Frankie is rocking his JG Party like a Rock Star T-shirt on the 12ft ladder!!

Quick snap shot of the view from the 21st floor at the Glasshouses: I do NOT mind 12 hours of production at the venue with a view like this one!

Here are a few key decor items I would like to brag about:

#1. Fabulous Mirror Spheres - They were fabricated by our AMAZING fabricator (@thisisdaddyo) and I need to give them a very large hug because they pulled these puppies up in NO time. NOTE: Find me and joe reflecting off the sphere.
#2. New lounge configuration. This is not your EVERYDAY lounge set up. With a very last minute changes on the floor plan, the lounge layout had to be adjusted. This is certainly NOT what I had in mind when I woke up but everything all came together. I am very excited for the guests to relax in the lounge during the event tomorrow night!!!

#3. Light up Towers: ALL I need to say is that they change colors, they are tall and SKINNY and WIRELESS. Can't get better than these! I plan to take them home with me after the event.




We have so much more to show but I am going to stop here because I don't want to spoil the fun for our guests : b You guys will just have to wait! But trust me, you won't be disappointed!

P.S. How should I prepare for 48hrs of production in next two days?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Season's Change!

Fall is approaching and what a better way to embrace the season but by adding some decor essentials into your home's interior.

Usually when the holidays arrive or the season's change, people like to celebrate with floral arrangements and accents around their home.

However, this time of year is great for expressing your style through dry and natural materials. A great way to add seasonal details is through the use of petite pumpkins and gourds. You can create small clusters around the home to compliment negative spaces. You can also create an inspiring and inviting tablescape with elements such as acorns, berries or indian corn to dress up the atmosphere.

Incorporating candles into the design is another great feature to add to the concept. You can never go wrong with candlelight my friends!

Be positive about this seasonal change upon us and get into the creative spirit!












Thursday, September 8, 2011

Natural Beauty

Moss is making its way into becoming a floral trend among the event world. It provides great texture and color diversity to the overall design aesthetic .

Organic chic and the essence of natural beauty are very up and coming these days. Moss captures this style and is a great creative and simplistic concept to go by.

It is a soft and elegant medium that combines well with all types of plants and flowers, creating a beautiful atmosphere for your event.



Tuesday, September 6, 2011

CHALK THAT BOARD

The blackboard wall trend has been going strong for the past couple of years, for nearly every room in the house. The matte finish of blackboard paint is practical, contemporary, and fun.

In our old office, we used to have a MEGA chalk board that we religiously for our events. We would create to-do lists, purchase lists, and other important notes that need to be shared in the office. It helped us to stay on the same page while juggling many different events at the same time.

NOW that we've moved into a bigger space, everyone is getting their OWN SQUARE BLACKBOARDS behind their desks. Half of the office has the blackboards and love the look of them on the wall. The panels of the blackboards on the wall give warmth to the space.


Though I have to be honest, my least favorite part of using chalk board is the messy CHALK and how much dust it creates. BUT don't let this stop you because there is another option. Check out these Liquid Chalk Markers! They deliver a smooth and opaque layer of color with great covering power. It is clean and vibrant. BRILLIANT!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Relax and Recharge

Our latest event, AOL's Engadget New York Meet-Up, took place at Guastavino's last Thursday. The event was sponsored by major players in the electronic gadget market such as Samsung, AT&T, Motorola, HTC, and Get A Game. The widely popular event attracted a crowd of nearly 1,400 guests. The key to making this event flow in the space was the well planned layout of the stations which included each sponsors latest and greatest. I had the challenge or working and re-working the flloorplan to include all 17 exhibitors, while keeping them all feeling equally represented, created an adequate flow for nearly 1,400 guests with food and drink stations and lounges to relax at. It was very important, with all these pieces to the puzzle, to create an accurate, precise layout all to spec within the venue.


These are some steps I take when producing an event:

1st Step: Obtain a blueprint of the venue
When planning ahead, we need to be very accurate on every measurements so that the result is a smooth load in with major hiccups. Free-styling on the day of an event is not how we produce!

2nd Step: List out all needed furniture, props and items that need to be represented on the plan
For an event with a large number of guests like this one, we really need to focus on what purpose each stations serve. Providing a stream-lined list of key elements for each station was the key to creating a smart floor plan. I stress need because when it comes to presenters, everyone tends to want to have anything and everything relative to their brand present. It is definitely a contest of who has the bigger...well, branding representation. So, to keep it clean, I have to challenge what does and does not make sense to the overall scope of the event.

3rd Step: Place everything on the floor plan and really imagine the space
It helps to configure the layout when you see everything on the page. I place each of the items I listed out and close my eyes. Imagining the space I have created, I take myself on a walkthrough! What is the first thing my client and their guests want to see when they walk in to the space? Is there is enough space between those two tables for people to walk through? What is the best way to show off the signs? Can the guests see the signs from every angle? Those are some of the questions you too can think about. Question yourself, then question yourself again. If you can, have someone else question you.


4th Step: Add decor items and centerpieces - "Express Yourself!"
This is the icing on the cake. For the Engadget event, we wanted to utilize the blue in the logo in various places through out the room to brand carry the correlation of the brand with out spelling out the name ENGADGET everywhere. For example, the stair case on the front facing side of each stair was customized with Blue vinyls, Blue LED rope lights dressed up four main columns that are centered in the mezzanine, and Blue fiber optic wands (yup, we brought them back) decorated cocktail tables.


5th Step: Produce it and Enjoy
Once I have confirmed all the placement and details with my client and everything is approved, I go into production mode, which entails hiring the hands I needs, confirming all my orders and rentals, fabricating everything I can at the shop and packing everything up to take to the venue. But, with all this planning done before hand, the one thing I do not fear is what a breeze it will be just just pop everything in place. There is NO guesswork in my game!

I want to thank all of our client (special shout out to Jenni at AOL), vendors (Thank you Christina, Karen, Vera, Jason, Erin and Ted) and the venue for working together with us and help pump out the event in such a short notice!

For more event photos, visit jesGORDON/properFUN facebook Page or check out an article on Bizbash!