Happy New Year!

Happy New Year all.. as Auntie Mame said…

“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death. ”

Rosalind Russell

Its time to let the old out, kick it to the corner and put on a new attitude. Let’s resolve to live life, eat desert first, wear purple, dance just because we can, skip because it makes you feel 10 years old again and smile at the world if not just because it really is a funny little place.

There is an old story of a Grandfather who fell asleep on the couch one day. His grandson thought it great fun to put some limburger cheese under his nose as he slept. When the grandfather awoke with shock, he declared the couch stank, as he stood up he again declared that the house stank. He walked outside to the front porch and there he declared…the whole world stank! 

The point is that we can perceive that life stinks because of our perspective on life…

As a designer our main goal is to see things from as many angles as possible, sometimes it just as simple as moving a few degrees around something that we see the answer, or a new design falls into place. Photographers do this all the time, they move to see.  If we are not moving we are not seeing what is there. 

We recently did a Wedding for a Bride that did just that, saw things from a different perspective. She had ideas to express herself and put her signature on the whole event. It was at the beautiful Waterworks Restaurant and Lounge. A small yet stylish wedding was photographed by one of Philadelphia’s most talented Photographers…Sofia Negron

Here are some of the photos to show you.

Here is her bouquet…

 

Contemporary with Tradition

So heres to a new year full of promise, full of adventure and may it bring you many joys…

Time to talk about the B word….

Hey kids… the economy is in a tail spin…is it a recession or what?

How do we deal with that and have the Wedding or Event of your dreams? The answer is simple, BUDGET. Every time i get to sit with a Client, i ask a simple question, “what is your budget?” Well its not a simple question really, because who knows what decor costs? How do you put a price to your dream?

As a kid, now i mean a really little kid, before we had calculators that you held in your hand…kid. My Dad the Economist would take me to the Grocery Store, and there we would look and compare products according to serving size and price, etc. If i did well, i got a Popsicle after the shopping mathematical quiz at after having stopped and performed this task at every single section…He was the first on our block to buy a stand alone freezer! which was soon filled with day old bread and assorted bargains he brought home from his various bargain hunting trips…can anyone say freezer burn?

Well, my folks were kids of the Depression, they would sit on our front porch and compare stories with the neighbors like badges on a girl-scout…”we ate just potatoes for a whole year!”, “oh you think that was bad…we ate dirt!” Am kidding about it now, but it did teach me a bit about keeping thankful for my basics and rejoicing in my abundance. 

We are in a challenging time, uncertain times, time to not spend what we need not..So lets talk BUDGET….There is no reason that you can not have the Event of your life, and here are a few simple ways to keep it within reason and not put you in debt.

 

• Make a Budget- allow for somethings you did not know you would need, like Hotel Tax or buying an unexpected. Like when you went off to College, you did not budget for a hair cut, opps!
• Keep it Simple- When planning try and keep things simple, do not invite anyone whom you would not have home to dinner! Keep the Bridal Party down in numbers, keep things simple and elegant. 
• See it BIG- Spend your money where it will be seen and appreciated. If the Ceremony is the biggest deal to you, lets spend decor money there.. other wise, let’s just keep it BIG but simple. Big flower arrangements up front, a few bows..and call it done. 
• Let your Vendor’s work for you, give us a budget and let us figure out where to spend it best.

 

We try and buy locally, seasonally and wisely for our Clients. If you are MADLY in love with Peony’s and its January, we will import them from Holland for you, and it will cost the budget a good hit… but if you have no clue what a Peony is, then something pink and fluffy will do just fine for you…

There are lots of ways to cut costs with decor and achieve amazing results! From Linen and Lighting to Ceremony and personal bridal floral, its all about design! That subject i will write about laters.

Just remember…do not panic…

 

Planning a budget is the key to any great thing…

Obama fundraiser-October 2008

We recently had the privilege to decorate for a fantastic fundraiser held at the Cohen’s home in Chestnut Hill. A beautiful white tent was put up by Event Quip, one of our most recommended tent companies.

The food and service was by Culinary Concepts who entertained guests with hors devours and a fantastic sit down dinner for 250 guests.

They were entertained by Bon Jovi and later guests were able to meet Senator Obama who spoke to the full tent of guests. It was a beautiful fall evening and we did beautiful red roses with turned Ti leaves. The linen was deep blue, and offset the red so well.

not enough blogging…

Went out for dinner with a photographer friend the other night…

Was told i need to blog more..i laughed, when? a good excuse of no time, yet as i reflected i saw that there is always time if one wishes to take advantage of it. We choose to keep life on pause, keep the here and now in full throttle, and think when i get some “free” time i will do just that…guess what? all time comes with a price.

we all need to communicate more, so recently i have taken to writing more, to old friends from College days. You know catch up, reconnect, feel that sense of the roots of friendship and shared experiences.  It has been amazing to see that they are grandparents, have made wonderful strides in life. What i see is that Its like connecting with brides from the past. We have a shared time together that with some lasted for a year or in some cases two! They all move on, and the next thing i know they are calling us for their kids parties and times of celebration and sometimes their times of sorrow.

As “florists” we are very similar to your hair dresser or that talkative dentist, we pop in and out of your lives as needed, yet we catch up quickly and connect once again about the trials and victories they have had. The same has been to catch up with these old friends of mine who wandered off to life, as i did, and we pop back into each others lives, just as if nothing has happened. Its really amazing that we can almost put a “pause button” in our hearts for people we love, and feel no loss to time. Maybe its that great ability of knowing that life’s values are not in the “things” or the “stuff” but in the lives lived and lived well…

so i shall attempt to share more here of the fun we have everyday…from events to the personal.

is that better oh wonderful photographer friend??? thanks for the motivation and inspiration.

Fresh 2008

Take a space and make it FRESH…here you will see a room transformed …

 Here is the start of FRESH…Jen and Daryl with David and Venus amongst the lemon trees…very pretty.

 

 here Megan does Venus…the set up at this point is getting done.we try and do things with more organization than this shows, but for the most part we do have fun. 

 

 What is FRESH? it is an industry trade show for the Philadelphia Region of ISES. What is ISES? it is the industry for Event Professionals. What happens at a Fresh event? besides a lot of eating, networking , drinking and loud music? we get FRESH ideas for Events. .. we get inspired by some of the most talented people i have ever met. Philadelphia is the third largest city in America, (depending on who you ask), with a wonderful city full of venues, the old Victorians mansion, new cutting edge spaces, Charity events, Corporate events, there is some thing to do every night of the year here. and most of all those Events are designed, with lights, photographers, music, flowers you nameit. Imagine what we would do without potty Queen? there ya go.In event world there are many unsung heroes, the behind the scene makers of magic. This is our evening to admire the creative genius  that we all bring to our Clients, and share in our collective desires to produce excellence in production. 

Here is our crew, Jennifer Angelo Design: Draping and Props, Hope and Dona:designers, Denise Sartoelli: Culinary Concepts, and one of our Crew members who dressed up as an Imp to hand out information and flutter amid the Venetian Garden.. 

Special THANKS to all the Vendors who were in our POD as well…

 

•  NACE: National Association of Catering Executives
• Studio Nine: Photography by Jonathan Rubin
• Marilyn Zeff: professional card reader.
• Studio Signs
• Carolyn Diamond: makeup artist to the stars
• Potty Queen
• Big Events: Lighting
• AMP: Audio Visual

Dinner with Style-after the plates are cleared….

 

Dinner with Style has again happened.  memories are of a wonderful night, filled ballrooms, lots of food, drink, music…This year’s Dinner with STYLE, held at the Hyatt Penn’s Landing on Jan. 21, not only raised over $200,000 for PAWS, but also featured 25 of the most gorgeous tablescapes in the history of the event. Please browse the photos and select your favorite tablescape design. We would hope you would vote for us!The best picture that somewhat shows our table top design…was for Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House. We were honored to design for the DMG Group, which comprises of Kildare’s, Doc Magrogan’s and Grady David’s.The tables were done to reflect the Old World with the New World flavor, which the DMG Group has married so well. Starting with the draping, we draped our section in deep aubergine velvet, with stain glass windows hung for each pod, and then we flooded the space with teal blue pin spots to add even more drama to the space.Our goal was to have the guests feel they were outside of the castle walls, sitting amongst the gardens enjoying the warmth of an evening dinning experience.The tables were draped in colors that we felt reflected the heart of each Restaurant. For Kildare’s we used the green moss colors of Ireland. The chairs were from Ireland as well, hand hewn wood and very stately. Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House was in turquoise to reflex the Ocean’s harvest. Grady David’s which is one of the more contemporary of all the restaurants was draped in honey bear linens to express the warmth and style of Grady’s.All the tables were connected in design by pewter water goblets, pewter chargers and votives of lime green, blue and amber. Each corner of the “pods” were decorated with our new iron extension hangers, standing over 5′ in height. Each hook held a long brick of florals, comprised of English garden roses of red, lavender and dusty royal pink, then draped with red and green Amaranthus, artichokes and mosses. Each post was then decorated with a variety of sized moss balls.Finally the tables were all scaped with small glass squares of hyacinths in lavender, purple and pinks, creating a garden floor for the dinners to feel the warmth of an old world experience.Please click on the link below and enjoy the great designs of so many talented Decorators.We thank you for taking the time to vote for us. Remember, that the pictures that are posted were not of the best quality.We hope that this description helps you picture it better.

The winner will be announced on Monday, Feb. 18!

 

 

Dinner with Style-2008

This past Monday night after a weekend of putting together a wonderful event in Princeton for the Eden Institute. We had a blast table decorating for Dinner with Style.30 chefs had “pods” that sat 12, each table was decorated for COMPETITION. You  will soon be able to go on line to stylemagazine.com and vote , hopefully for us! We decorated for the DMG Group, which is Kildare’s, Grady David’s and Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House.  Will be posting pictures soon for both events. The Eden Institute which holds an annual event to raise funds for Autism, is something we have supported for many years. This year’s event was themed, an Evening in Venice. It was so beautiful and packed with fun. Just wanted to get a note out to all our readers, more to follow. loves, hope Another update: voting starts Feb. 1-15, go to http://www.phillystylemag.com  They raised $200,000 for PAWS, which is great for this small Charity!! 

US Artists Show-H&D Design will be there!

 We will be decorating the upcoming US Artist show October 19-21st at the 33rd Street Armory held by the Women’s Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. We are very excited to have “our artwork” on display for so many. If you love the Art’s this is a wonderful show to go to. They bring in these awesome Galleries and you can view their best pieces all in one place. They also have a “new collectors” which features pieces of up and coming artists. A great way to start collecting. My daughter who is studying to become an Artist, and who is in the Honors Art Program at Abington H.S. , ( no pride there..)  was saying to me that she took for granted the original pieces we have in our home.Collecting has always come easily to me not just because of the years of study. It’s that as you go along and see something, and you just know that its something that will evoke a thought, an emotion, a memory.

Here is more information that I got from their website for your enjoyment….

USArtists: American Fine Art Show is the major annual fund raising event created, organized and chaired by the Women’s Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to benefit the Academy’s mission. The world’s largest show of American Art is held the third weekend in October at the 33^rd Street Armory in Philadelphia. In 2007 the 16^th annual USArtists show will run Friday through Sunday, October 19, 20 & 21, with a gala opening on Thursday, October 18.

USArtists is a celebration of American artistic talent, reflecting the vitality, history and uniqueness of our nation’s art. Since USArtists debuted in 1992, critics have praised it as “the premier American art fair.” USArtists is an opportunity for collectors and art lovers to see, under on roof, what is available in the art market from leading galleries across the country.

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is American’s oldest art museum and school of fine arts. The Academy’s museum collections and exhibitions display the work of distinguished American artists including Benjamin West, Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Robert Henri, John Twatchaman, Georgia O’Keefe, Richard Diebenkorn and Helen Frankenthaler.

Fresh Breeze.

A fresh breeze. A theme we have been developing this season.
Its full of earthly elements, wind, water and light.
Palms fresh with breezes, cool tropical waters, lighting that refreshes the soul.
This Fall we will be decorating a wedding reception that will follow a marriage in the Tropics. The bride wanted to reflect her Carribean heritage, and her Philadelphia home.
With a beautiful Venue called Colonial Danes.

There are lots of surprises to come, and will tell you more this Fall…
It will be a Colonial Carribean reception. Catering by Culinary Concepts as well. yum.
Here is a picture from an event we just did with them that will give you more of an idea of fresh breeze.

Pineapple Unside Down Centerpieces….

Okay, now thats what we call a centerpiece….
It looks heavy, but really its really not that bad.

About 7 feet in height, and somewheres around 250 sunflowers. figuring out how to make it was the real challenge. We had all sorts of ideas, and trials, then after a few days of fussing we got it. We premade the form, then trucked it over to the site for final trussing. Bet you did not know unless you are from Kansas, that sunflowers have a tar to their blooms? oh yeah, like 2 days later we were still trying to remove the black sticky substance from fingers.

It did look great when all was said and done, would we do it again? We have decided to let it go out into the design world and let you all have fun with it instead…

Think of the possibilities… a giant strawberry for a champagne flute…a James and a Giant Peach theme… oh we could become the next great thing in floral fruits…

oh wait. think we would have to get in line.

enjoy the week. h