NACE 2010 Tabletop WOW!!
WOW!! Last night was my first NACE Tabletop WOW!! Now that it is over I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS! First of all I want to thank every one that came over to my table last night and showed some love!! I had a blast! I know on several occasions last night I said never again, but secretly I was thinking next year, IT IS ON, I can't wait!!
Fauzeen my in-house photographer partner at Q Studio registered to do a table a couple months ago. Her and I were doing a table! My first Table top WOW! table. This year's theme was movies. So I quickly decided to jump into the race doing "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory"...Old School Style. So I obsessed over the details. Everything was based on a chocolate fountain being a part of the centerpiece. On Tuesday morning I found out my chocolate fountain had fallen through due to a scheduling conflict by the company who was partnering with me for this year's table and rent's them out. Afraid of spewing chocolate all over people and having a "Prop Malfunction" by trying to do it myself with a rented or store bought fountain as well as now having no team, I decided to change my theme to something I could produce ALONE. Alice In Wonderland...
Because of me wanting to be under the $500 budget catagory, I knew I couldn't spend labor dollars on having my employees help. So I knew I would be alone. After the decision to change themes 24 hours before the competition, the first call I made was to LeTrice Penn, owner of LePenn Designs who was custom printing my stationary for my table, what she came up with I think is the detail that made my table over the top!!
I ran to my nearest thrift stores and bought all my antique and vintage teacups with mix matched saucers. I bought teapots, doilies, antique books and several mix matched vintage white milk glass vases, bowls & pedestals. I got a pocket watch and beautiful toss pillows in random colors and textures. By six o'clock Tuesday evening I had my Alice in Wonderland design going full steam ahead. I bought playing cards, tea bags and chocolates at Costco. Borrowing some antique chairs from my Father, two dining room arm chairs from Fauzeen's Mother, a vintage garden chair from my neighbor along with her moss garden rabbit, I was really pulling together my vision.
For the rented portion of my design, I pulled things out of my showroom Wednesday morning before I left for Table top WOW! I pulled two linens right off my display tables! I used my burgundy with gold embroidered floral vining table cloth with a champagne sheer overlay with more floral embroidering and petals sewn to the surface. I packed up my gold acrylic chargers, white china plates w/gold banding, my amber glass water goblets, clear twisted stem champagne flutes, mix matched flatware, a gold & silver Chiavari Chair right off my display tables and off my showroom floor.
The candy colored flowers I had already ordered for my Willy Wonka Factory scene were in. With it being too late to redesign or reorder flowers for the Alice in Wonderland theme, I had to make due with what I had. I had a 7ft tree that I had made for my Open House on April 1st sitting on one of the display tables. Using two more bunches of curly willow and white birch branches to fill it in, we made an AMAZING 9 ft. tree from the table that spanned 7 ft wide!!!! Using salal, asparagus fern, baker fern and Israeli ruscus I made a beautiful canopy in the tree. I used moss to cover the base had a little hole in the base and a sign pointing Alice to Wonderland.
I wanted the real feeling of a garden-based Victorian tea party. The real Alice in Wonderland, without the Walt Disney feel. I absolutely LOVE what came of a huge disaster...but then again as a floral and event designer, that's what we do. I had my moments of panic watching the teams of multiple companies with mulitple people working on their designs together knowing I was all alone....lol!! The best part of my design was that it was all done for about $280 out of my pocket. With the rental and set up/labor it would cost a client around $450 to buy!! It was seriously an intense competition. I am just really excited and proud of what I came up with. I wanted to share these pictures I took on my Blackberry, the professional ones are soon to follow!! I was awed by the talent of the professionals who did tables. It was a great event and really a lot of fun. See you next year at Tabletop WOW!!!
Fauzeen my in-house photographer partner at Q Studio registered to do a table a couple months ago. Her and I were doing a table! My first Table top WOW! table. This year's theme was movies. So I quickly decided to jump into the race doing "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory"...Old School Style. So I obsessed over the details. Everything was based on a chocolate fountain being a part of the centerpiece. On Tuesday morning I found out my chocolate fountain had fallen through due to a scheduling conflict by the company who was partnering with me for this year's table and rent's them out. Afraid of spewing chocolate all over people and having a "Prop Malfunction" by trying to do it myself with a rented or store bought fountain as well as now having no team, I decided to change my theme to something I could produce ALONE. Alice In Wonderland...
Because of me wanting to be under the $500 budget catagory, I knew I couldn't spend labor dollars on having my employees help. So I knew I would be alone. After the decision to change themes 24 hours before the competition, the first call I made was to LeTrice Penn, owner of LePenn Designs who was custom printing my stationary for my table, what she came up with I think is the detail that made my table over the top!!
I ran to my nearest thrift stores and bought all my antique and vintage teacups with mix matched saucers. I bought teapots, doilies, antique books and several mix matched vintage white milk glass vases, bowls & pedestals. I got a pocket watch and beautiful toss pillows in random colors and textures. By six o'clock Tuesday evening I had my Alice in Wonderland design going full steam ahead. I bought playing cards, tea bags and chocolates at Costco. Borrowing some antique chairs from my Father, two dining room arm chairs from Fauzeen's Mother, a vintage garden chair from my neighbor along with her moss garden rabbit, I was really pulling together my vision.
For the rented portion of my design, I pulled things out of my showroom Wednesday morning before I left for Table top WOW! I pulled two linens right off my display tables! I used my burgundy with gold embroidered floral vining table cloth with a champagne sheer overlay with more floral embroidering and petals sewn to the surface. I packed up my gold acrylic chargers, white china plates w/gold banding, my amber glass water goblets, clear twisted stem champagne flutes, mix matched flatware, a gold & silver Chiavari Chair right off my display tables and off my showroom floor.
The candy colored flowers I had already ordered for my Willy Wonka Factory scene were in. With it being too late to redesign or reorder flowers for the Alice in Wonderland theme, I had to make due with what I had. I had a 7ft tree that I had made for my Open House on April 1st sitting on one of the display tables. Using two more bunches of curly willow and white birch branches to fill it in, we made an AMAZING 9 ft. tree from the table that spanned 7 ft wide!!!! Using salal, asparagus fern, baker fern and Israeli ruscus I made a beautiful canopy in the tree. I used moss to cover the base had a little hole in the base and a sign pointing Alice to Wonderland.
I wanted the real feeling of a garden-based Victorian tea party. The real Alice in Wonderland, without the Walt Disney feel. I absolutely LOVE what came of a huge disaster...but then again as a floral and event designer, that's what we do. I had my moments of panic watching the teams of multiple companies with mulitple people working on their designs together knowing I was all alone....lol!! The best part of my design was that it was all done for about $280 out of my pocket. With the rental and set up/labor it would cost a client around $450 to buy!! It was seriously an intense competition. I am just really excited and proud of what I came up with. I wanted to share these pictures I took on my Blackberry, the professional ones are soon to follow!! I was awed by the talent of the professionals who did tables. It was a great event and really a lot of fun. See you next year at Tabletop WOW!!!
posted by Corrina Kulhanek at
8:39 AM
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