All About You

Your event should communicate your personality or your brand immediately to party guests. This is traditionally done through theme, color, flower arrangements and other decorations. One way to take it a step further is to personalize an object, like a plate, and make it unique to your party.

Personalized plates or glasses might make you wince. Remember those cheesy prom gifts from high school? But a custom plate or glass design can add that special touch to your table setting or serve as a party favor. The trick is to have some fun with it and branch out beyond the standard name or date of the event. What about putting your face on the plate? Or a quote? How about your favorite flower? Or a funky graphic? The possibilities are endless.

{Source: Milkbottles}

At jesGORDON/properFUN we like to take this otherwise unthought-of space, make it unique, and most importantly about you. It adds a bit of fun and surprise to the event as people find their seats.

PIN IT!

The latest trend in social networking--which we are completely obsessed with--is Pinterest. The clever name combining the words “pin” and “interest” is pretty self-explanatory. A user can pin, or post, images or items they find interesting, creating a digital inspiration board that can then be shared with friends, family, or us!

{Source: Pinterest.com)

jesGORDON/properFUN loves Pinterest because it is a great tool for you to collect your ideas, and for us in defining your style. It allows us to see inside your mind and get a glimpse of what your vision is. This can be especially beneficial for getting a clear sense of what a bride’s tastes and desires are for her big day.

It can be even more helpful in a situation where you cannot clearly describe the feeling or style you want for your party. We can take a look at your Pinterest page and extract what you love and want.

Whether you are planning a big romantic wedding, or a girly bat mitzvah get searching for inspiration, and PIN IT!

Macy's Flower Show 2012: "Brasil: Gardens in Paradise"

Spring is the air and Macy’s knows exactly how to celebrate it! Macy’s is in the tail-end of their annual Macy’s Flower Show. The theme of this year’s Macy’s Flower Show is Brasil: Gardens in Paradise. jesGORDON will once again be featured as a “Bouquet of the Day” designer at the Macy’s Flower Show. The flower show has moved outside and will take place in tents on Broadway Plaza. However, the creations of top designers like jesGORDON will be displayed in the Macy’s windows along 34th Street. Look for the jesGORDON window on the 34th Street side of the store—it will definitely be a show-stopper! Jes loves to bring a little country and a little Rock and Roll. If you thought last year’s bouquet was something else, this year’s bouquet is sure to knock it out of the park!

In case you forgot Jes's rockstar creation from last year, here are a few photos to help you remember.

Our friends at Macy’s have outdone themselves this year with their Brazilian fantasy world. Their tented floral creation is located in Herald Square. It's certainly a must-see this weekend!

(Courtesy of timeoutnewyorkkids.com)

How to "Sleep No More"

Last night the JG team took an amazing field trip to the production of Sleep No More in Manhattan. Sleep No More tells the story of Macbeth (that’s right, brush up on your Shakespeare) through the lens of a 1940-1950s Hollywood crime drama that takes place in fictional hotel, the McKittrick Hotel. The décor, actors and atmosphere truly transport you to that amazing era. We don’t want to give away all of the surprises, because the mystique is what truly makes this experience memorable, but here are some tips about the production that “leads its audience on a merry, macabre chase up and down stairs, and through minimally illuminated, furniture-cluttered rooms and corridors.” (source: New York Times, April 13, 2011)

(Courtesy of nycgrubbing.blogspot.com)

1. To avoid waiting on a long line, get there on the earlier side and stick together. Groups go into the production at different times so it’s important not to get separated when you are entering.

2. Bring cash because you are required to check your pocketbook. It is only $3, but we wanted to give a heads-up!

3. Arrive there early and stay late! After a dark tunnel of a time machine you magically arrive at a fantastic 1940s-themed jazz bar that takes you back to the days of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

4. We suggest you start in the ballroom, which is on the 1^st floor. To get there walk down the stairs until you cannot walk any longer! You’ll thank us later ;)

5. Pick a character and follow him or her. By following a character you are able to understand that character’s plot line instead of jumping from one to the next. They run through the play three times so you can follow three different characters. Following one character will also help you to explore some of the secret rooms in the “hotel” (there are over 100!).

6. Wear comfortable shoes – the artists run!

7. If you wear glasses, try to wear contacts that day. You are required to wear a mask and glasses can make that tricky :)

8. It can get very warm in the “hotel” so dress appropriately.

9. Take a minute to really explore the set. The love is truly in the details at this production.

10. Finally, make sure you end where it all started, in the ballroom, for the big finish!

Of course, being event producers we are still talking about this amazing experience over 24 hours later and dreaming up ways of making our very own 1940s/1950s hotel. We came up with a few quick fixes to transform an area into a sleek, mysterious hotel lounge. First, tone down the lighting. That almost dark with just-a-hint-of-amber lighting adds an element of intrigue (not to mention that the right lighting makes everyone look great). Also, try incorporating cocktail tables with one votive on each table and only two to four chairs. This will create that intimate atmosphere that you often feel in a jazz bar. Of course, create a playlist that highlights the amazing sounds of Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and John Coltrain—to name a few. Lastly, request that your guests dress the part and encourage them to do so by speaking with a local costume shop. Perhaps they will give your guests a discount.

(Courtesy of papermag.com)

For information on Sleep No More visit: http://sleepnomorenyc.com/

About McKittrick Hotel:

In collaboration with Emursive, Skylight at the McKittrick Hotel is an unprecedented event venue that is a forum for unbridled creativity and extreme guest engagement. The "Hotel Menu" of custom-curations is performed with a level of service that is uniquely Skylight and a level of intrigue that is quintessentially McKittrick. For more information on events at McKittrick Hotel visit www.skylightnyc.com, Like Skylight Group on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Skylightgroup), or Follow @SkylightNYC on Twitter!

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!

We all know that recycling is good and benefits the environment, but how do you incorporate these ideals into a design? We do that a lot here at jesGORDON/properFUN by using materials and objects, and repurposing them into our projects. We just put together a table for DIFFA's Dining by Design event using a lot of repurposed materials, as mentioned in our post DIFFA 2012. What are some other ways to use recycled materials?

An easy place to introduce reused materials is in the small details of a table or room. Use empty wine, beer, and liquor bottles as candlestick holders, place them in clusters on a table and create very elegant and green setting at the same time. Also using empty glass sauce or jam jars as vases for floral arrangements creates a country feel that can be an awesome contrast to a more rock and roll space.

A more advanced approach is through the use of paper. Using old magazines or newspapers, cut out a shape, like a star, or fold into something like a paper airplane. String the paper objects on clear fishing line and hang at different lengths from a thin pole parallel to the table to create a whimsical and air recycled centerpiece. Paper can also be used to create chargers or place mats by starting with a cardboard shape and paper mache-ing clippings to the cardboard.

Some techy recycling includes attaching a bunch of CD's as a dangling light-catching arrangement over a table or dance floor. Also these can be used as place cards, just write the name of the guest on the CD in black sharpie and voila! When using recycled or repurposed materials it adds an element of surprise to your design and gives the objects a new found beauty.

DIFFA 2012

Guess who is back for DIFFA's DBD 2012 with a neon colored booth?

WARNING: Be prepared for a large dose of eye-popping color.

Fluorescent and neon colors are making a big come back. Fashion, interior design, beauty and lots of other industries are embracing the trend with gusto. We've been always been huge fans of neon colors :) This year, we decided to take our love affair with neon to the next level with fun shapes, textures, and lots of signature jesGORDON happiness.

It is always a fun challenge to design a space with props that you already own. We built the shelves in the back of our DIFFA space with black milk-crates and filled them with books with neon painted edges. We included vintage toys that Jes collected to add a personal touch. We dressed three sides of the booth with long strings of neon ribbon and lit each side with clear LED panels. The LED up-lighting enhances the color of the ribbon and illuminates the entire booth.

A lit oval table in the center of the room provides a base for a sculptural centerpiece—a flurry of butterflies—created with white wire hangers. The tabletop features custom oval plates with a hand making a PEACE gesture, utensils dipped in neon paint, and tortoiseshell votives. The real stars of the show are the messages hanging from the centerpiece—an array of handwritten wishes from people passing our table about the ongoing fight against AIDS.

We had a blast during the seven hour installation yesterday and are grateful to be part of this wonderful event again!

Visit DIFFA Dining By Design 2012 at Pier 94 (55th St. at 12th Avenue). Public viewing hours are:

March 23 - March 24, 10am - 7pm

March 25, 10am - 6pm

Can Flowers Be Masculine?

You bet they can! Often when people think of flowers, they immediately think of femininity. But flowers don’t have to be feminine. Of course, they will ways give that touch of softness to your party. However, in a recent event we created beautiful and manly centerpieces that wowed the guests.

Masculine florals tend to include flowers displaying strong graphic and architectural shapes (contemporary, clean lines) and foliage. Some of our favorite florals to use for our masculine arrangements are Ranunculus and Billy Balls with an accent of tropical foliage.

Varying textures of leaves and shades of greens and browns (dark tones) made the yellow floral accents pop. We always keep our centerpieces lush but our masculine florals tend to have a more organic feel.

Instead of using clear glass cylinders or other textured colored vases, we used black rectangular vases to add a contemporary look, which enhanced the masculinity of the whole arrangement. We also recommend sand blasted vases to add an organic element that is necessary in any masculine floral piece.

Color Trends 2012/13

Events are all about the theme, which is often driven by a color scheme. Color trends in events often trickle down from fashion making both mint and tangerine shades popular in the coming seasons.

Mint, sea foam, light turquoise and teals, work well for spring months and for upcoming winter events too. This cool and fresh color palette lends itself to many different feels and avenues when planning an event. When paired with ivories, grays, or other pastels like pink, this creates a soft, airy aura. If you want to incorporate these pale and cool green hues in a more traditional and formal feeling design, combine with slate, black, or gray. And finally when paired with a bright warm ‘pop’ color, mints, sea foams, and light teal hues become much more playful and fresh.

Tangerine, mango, or orange have been traditionally hard colors to incorporate but in recent months they have been popping up in everything from fashion to interiors. When using one of these bright, warm colors as the base of your palette, you can go one of two ways. The first is a bit subtler using it as the accent color paired with more neutrals like white, ivory, or sugar cookie. The second is a lot bolder, by pairing it with another vibrant color of either warm or cool color palettes, say hot pink or turquoise, for example, and you get something very lively and new.

Think about these upcoming trends in color when planning your next event and how they can be incorporated into every detail from the invitation, flowers, venue, tables, dresses, and all the way through to the thank you cards.

An Ethereal Forest

This weekend, the JG team had the pleasure of celebrating a wedding with one fabulous couple who had a vision of flowering branches towering over their dinner tables as centerpieces with floating candles at the base. This fantastic combination along with flickering luminaries created a wonderfully romantic, dreamy ethereal forest, with twinkling stars that you’d want to sleep under.

These Cherry Blossom branches bloom only two weeks per year. Mother nature was certainly looking down on us this weekend and smiling!

For the escort card table we wanted to stick with the flowering branches theme, but also add an element of softness with lots of floating candles, small clustered bouquets, and a rounded ceiling installation.

We incorporated the escort card table floral into the bridal bouquet, but added a touch of Anemone, which gives that chic contrast of white against deep purple.

Spotlighting is a great way to highlight the centerpieces. We especially like to use spotlighting for tall centerpieces to give a more dramatic finish to the space. On the dance floor, we gave our luminaries a twinkly look by using flickering battery operated LED candles. The flickering LED lights create more of an illusion of real candles and give an even warmer feel to the atmosphere than a standard LED light would.

The free-forming of branches on the Chuppah gives a more organic, natural feel that we love…and can you believe that sunset!?

Congratulations to the happy couple! And we have to give a “Thank you!” to Abigail Kirsh’s The Lighthouse and to our whole team for helping to put on a fantastic party!