Lush tabletops of anemones, peonies, and ranunculus, resembling the Parisian gardens of the Champs-Élysees were set atop round ice blue Russian linens with caps emulating couture clown collars.

Black and white canopy striped napkins were layered with blush pink velvet ribbon and the tables were framed with transparent crystal Victoria ghost chairs.

Playing off of the baby ‘shower’, vintage umbrellas and Parisian parasols hovered over tables with strings of dripping crystals that refracted the blue uplighting and resembled raindrops.

A mixologist served sweet tea and strawberry drinks with pink flags that said ‘baby love, ooh my baby love’ from a bar covered with candelabras topped with blushing pink peonies.

Silver elephants balanced upon oversized floral balls white ceramic elephants guarded Evian bottles emblazoned with a Christian Lacroix print that were the guests take home gifts.

The entire evening had that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that can only be expressed in the French language of love, and guests exclaimed that they felt truly transported to another place!”

PLANNER/ DESIGNER/ FLORAL DESIGN/ STATIONERY DESIGN: Lollipop Events & Designs (Blog: Lolliblog)

VENUE: Vintage Uptown

LINENS: Wildflower Linens

ENTERTAINMENT: Carl Mack Presents

FLORIST: Diane with Fat Cat Flowers – (504) 486-8580

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Lee

UMBRELLAS: Bella Umbrella

CATERERS:
• Toulousse Gourmet
• Stephanie with Food Art
• Chef Will – (crawfish, corn bisque, chicken drumlets)

DJ: DJ Hektik

Inspired by big top tents, trapeze artists and French circus performers we had a stilt walker greeting guests at the door and waiters with clown couture costume makeup serving appetizers true to French Creole cuisine.

The “Carousel de la Tour Eiffel” photo op of a vintage ferris wheel with the Eiffel tower looming in the background was set up in the corner. The ladies were able to pose for photos with vintage parasols and the men posed with pastel bubble gum cigars in honor of baby Genevieve.

Surrounded by chipped bricks and loft like space, modern white belly bars topped with tall candelabras created a contemporary twist on a traditional French bistro. The walls were sprinkled with custom circus posters. No detail was left unturned, including the vintage circus signs on the bathroom doors, “the clowns” sign for the men and “the tightrope walkers” for the women.

Guests were enveloped in music from a DJ spinning beats in front of a large spinning ferris wheel mural that was situated behind him as a backdrop.

Stay tuned for Part III tomorrow!

PLANNER/ DESIGNER/ FLORAL DESIGN/ STATIONERY DESIGN: Lollipop Events & Designs

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Lee

Finally, in January we hopped on a plane to New Orleans to do the shower for a mommy-to-be with a baby girl along the way. The French soiree was co-ed and a celebration for both of the sophisticated and stylish parents.

We went with a pale pink, baby blue and onyx palette for baby Genevieve along with a Parisian circus vibe to play off of the French influence of New Orleans and to add a whimsical element.

The dessert table resembled a true Parisian patisserie with large spheres of popcorn balls on crystal cut glass cake stands, pastel treats in bowls, macaroons in pale palettes of pink, sherbert green, and lemon yellow. Rock candy in bright punch-pink and otter pop blues, cupcakes swirled with pastel frosting and old-fashioned stick candy with swirling stripes were labeled with custom pink tags and boldly striped ribbon.

The dessert was even served by a comical baker wearing a chefs hat to add to the topsy turvy circus feel!

Stay Tuned for Parts II & III!!

We love having hidden stationery surprises around the event, and pay special attention to every catering tag, dessert tag, drink flag, favor tag, and sign. Each one is customized to the client which makes them feel extra special on their big day.

Stationery Graphics: Lollipop Events & Designs

The event was a baby shower celebration so we combined the French influence of NOLA with a new baby girl along the way. The perfect marriage of the two inspirations was a pink Parisian circus soiree. Our client loved the idea! We then presented her with multiple color palette options and she decided on French blue, pale pinks, buttercream yellow and black to add a bid of edge.

We then started sourcing our vendors. We wanted circus performers, perfect pastries, exquisite New Orleans French Creole fare, a brilliant mixologist, and fabulous florist. We also knew that the venue location and music would be extremely important to maintain the festive vibe of the fete.

Guests would be treated to an overflowing Parisian Patisserie, games, a photo-op and custom cocktails from Strawberry Sweet Teas to new twists on mojitos!

*** Disclaimer: These boards were made for our client so we did not retain all the sources we pulled. Some are from our vendors, but if you see an image here that you would like credit for please contact us!

“I wish I could tell you that when I’m designing a collection, I’m inspired by cool things like Michelangelo, or blown glass, or the Arc de Triomphe.  The truth is, though, that I’m more inspired by the fabric and lace itself than anything else.  I’ve always considered myself to be a sculptor.

FABRIC AND LACE ARE MY MEDIUM; THE FEMALE BODY IS MY FORM

I start with a basic sketch.  The sketches are in pencil, usually much erased & smudged over, and with sporadic notes scribbled here and there.  My sketches usually have way too many ideas on them.  I’m nuts about fussy frou-frou details, but always find that as we go through the design process, lots of those details get paired down and simplified.”

And that is the story of ‘How Stella Got Her Groove On!’

Designer: Alisa Benay Bride

Photography:  Jared Wilson
Hair & Makeup: Aphrodite Affairs

Karen Young of Hammock & High Tea shared some of her inspirational photos with us, and then showcases the product that was derived from it. For the Saree collection Karen has “collected beautiful bits of saree fabric for years, and fell in love with this one about 6 years ago. I turned to it for inspiration when I was looking to modernize the traditional saree designs, and tried to bring the three dimensional texture of the beads to life.”

Karen was also extremely inspired by travel for her Mayan collection, “Spring was inspired by travel and the fact that cultures across the world have similar textiles, textures, and flavors. I found that this rhombus shape has been around for centuries and is present in patterns from Turkey to Tunisia, Portugal, and Mexico.”

The trends this year on the runway this year are all about global glamour and inspiration. We love the idea of bringing these ethnic elements and dressing tables with these textiles for weddings, dinner parties and showers!

The Tablescape: Crystals glistened in the sunlight hanging off of tiered cupcake stands that were used in lieu of vases. Each cupcake tier was topped of with a single white mum. Flower balls created out of clusters of various flowers including spider mums, garden roses, lisianthus and daisies were displayed on tall elegant glass vases. For additional interest and warmth blossoming prairie stems were clustered with spider mums in teal Portuguese glassware and amber bud vases, while the Queen’s royal ceramic horses stood guard on each end. To top off the level of luxury, oversized cobalt crystal diamonds were scattered atop the table.

Handmade Nepalese navy, teal and gold printed papers were lined with gold and aqua ribbons to create custom runners and napkin rings for each place setting while name tags in the same custom shape as the invitation were tied onto the backs of each chair.

The Mimosa Bar: Buckets of champagne and sparkling Italian sodas were served in hand blown blue champagne flutes accompanied by an array of juices such as blueberry (to match the party palette), pomegranate, and classic orange.

The Dessert Bar: Sweet confections in shades of blues accented with gold, silver and white danced atop vintage mirrored trays, lead cut crystal candy dishes and gold risers. Scrumptious vanilla cake pops were made with aqua frosting and topped with candy pearls  alongside aqua colored blueberry cake pops with vanilla frosting and aqua sprinkles. As a fun dessert centerpiece we created a jumbo cupcake topped with the initials of the bride-to-be, Prince Charming had never looked so sweet!

Event Design / Flowers / Stationery / Coordination : Lollipop Events & Designs

Photography: Paula Luna of Luna Photo

SOURCES: Plates Paris Hotel Boutique & French Coffee Server, Blue Train Logo, Flowers, Blueberry macaroons, Champagne Tower, Garden crown

The graphic design for the stationery was all about shapes! We transformed a mosque tile shape to look a bit more like a crown for the pattern of the background on the invitations. This shape became the platform for the graphics throughout the soiree. The catering tags, dessert tags and name tags were all cut into the same custom crown like shape.

Event Design, Invitations & Stationery: Lollipop Events & Designs