Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Day Two: TSE Trade Show and Luncheon





The Butterflies get a sneak peak at what the 2010 Wedding Season Trends have to offer!



It's day two of our TSE New Orleans experience, and after blogging about our FAB night we hit the convention center to check out the vendors. There we some beautiful table displays and we are excited to bring new ideas to our clients! We also got "bedazzled" by our friend Sasha Vincent with Bedazzle My Bon Bons and I had a flattering sketch done by Butt Sketch. We lounged on the fabulous new furniture by Cort, and snacked on liquid nitrogen made ice cream. We are SO bringing liquid nitrogen treats to our clients back in Memphis!


















After idea shopping at the trade show we headed to the Wedding Luncheon. The room decor was fabulous; the theme was a landscape painting. The center tables were serpentine with mermaid payettes topped with intricately stacked shallow circular vases, resembling a river. Surrounding the "river" were long tables topped with sage green cut velvet linens and rows of tulips nesting on hydrangeas. These tables resembled the rows of tulips on a tulip farm. To add height to the room and portray the wooded areas in the landscape painting, there were tables on raised stages to the far right and left of the room. The centerpieces were tall branchy "umbrellas." Below are pictures of each theme:



















Although the room design was creative, there were logistical problems that we could not stop dwelling on. Tip #2: It does not matter how breathtaking you make your event space if the event logistics do not run smoothly. First of all, they oversold VIP seating tickets (unfortunately, we bought them!). When we arrived there were no more VIP seats for us, even though we paid substantially extra for them. When we told one of the coordinators, she simply told us that there were seating design flaws and that we needed to take a seat off in the corner. As experienced event coordinators, this really peeved us. The next logistical flaw was the entertainment; for a luncheon, the mic'ed horns and drums were far too loud to make conversation over. Although the food was gourmet and delicious, we were never offered rolls and the service was blah. We had to actively ask for coffee with dessert, rather than be offered. The speaker, Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart Weddings was wonderful, but after she spoke no one thanked her immediately and there was awkward silence.

This is living proof that no matter how fabulous your food, decor, or entertainment is, the effort will be lost on your guests if they do not work together to enhance the event. Logistics are everything, and the comfort and enjoyment of your guests should always come first!









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