Oliveaire Design Studio Showcase Presents: The Acharya Wedding: Roosevelt University Chicago

 BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now),

Olivia

Choosing a Centerpiece

Your flowers will be a sizable investment on your wedding day.   Your guests will admire your flowers at the ceremony, but most of all at the reception.  Your reception centerpiece can capture your guests’ attention, with interesting details and beautifully placed flowers. And from experience, we highly recommend to have some sort of florals on the placecard table as well as some accented touches on the high boys and cocktails rounds. And don’t forget the most important area, the sweet heart table on the stage!  Here are some thoughts on designing trendy and creative centerpiece that will captivate your guests:

Collection of Vases

A popular design, as well as budget friendly.  Using a collection of cylinder or square vases of varying heights will give the table dimension.  A monochromatic color palette will give you a sleek contemporary look.

Wrapped Vases

If colored vases are not offered by your florist, choose to wrap them in eye-catching fabrics.  A thick border ribbon, crystal ropes or layering with shimmer paper stock will highlight texture in an otherwise flat vase.

Sparkle

Nothing sets the mood like candles.  Setting pillar candles in a mosaic candle holder, or floating candles in crystal dishes, can accessorize your table.  If possible, use colored votive holders that will match your event color palette.

Potted Plants and Herbs

Beautiful and earth friendly.  This aromatic display of greens can easily be incorporated into any design.  The best part is that the guests can take them home to enjoy and reminisce about your wedding day.

Illumination

As it is at any event, the lights in the room will be dimmed.  This is most certainly going to give you romantic ambiance.  But it is a deterrent to your centerpiece.  Add an illumination box that can uplight your centerpiece, from the bottom up.  If your budget allows, definitely pin spot, at a minimum, your high centerpieces.  After all, it is the crown jewel of the evening.

Your personal touch will brand your centerpiece.  Exquisite details will certainly keep your guests raving about your flowers.  We hope you will take more chances with your centerpieces, we are always inspired by out of the box design ideas.

BBFN (Bridal Bliss for Now),

Olivia

Why Hire a Planner?

You may have always dreamed about what your wedding may be, or perhaps it feels like your engagement ring must have magic powers, making your wedding the only thing on your mind. As your daydream becomes more vivid, filled with crystal and floral details you likely are NOT thinking about how this dream becomes reality. After assigning a budget, and hiring all of the vendors comes the real work, coordinating all of the details and executing them. Somewhere along the road though you will stop and wonder “When did planning this wedding become so stressful?” Simple, as your dream becomes reality, you want everything to be perfect and it is hard to put your trust in others to make that happen.

Often times the tension leading up to the big day is so enormous that brides cannot wait for their wedding day to be over! Brides miss out on the opportunity to spend cherished time with friends and family, take in the magic of the day, savor each moment as they promise their lives to their new husbands and simply enjoy themselves.

Much of this stress is alleviated by hiring a professional to handle the execution of your wedding. Planners often have a variety of planning packages to accommodate your wishes. They can stand by your side from the beginning advising on vendor selections, or come in during the few months leading up to the wedding to coordinate all of your details. You do not want to burden your close friends or family members with these responsibilities. You want them to have fun too!

Here are just a few responsibilities a planner should take off of your place:

1. Load in / Load out – your planner will confirm that vendors are arriving on time and providing the services you paid them for.
2. Point of contact – you wont have twenty different people coming up to you, you will only have one! Your planner.
3. Less Clutter – Planners are organized and will keep all of the information, from you and all of your vendors organized.
4. Communication – Planners will tell people (your wondering new mother-in-law, the groomsmen who just needs one more drink) where they need to be, and what they need to do in a professional manner. You won’t want to be stern to get them lined up for your entrance, but planners have a way of making this happen.
5. Acting as a sheild – Parents tend to be extra sensitive during your big day. The napkin layout might upset your mom, the clothes the DJ is wearing might offend your dad. At the end of the day, you don’t have to hear about it, your planner will listen to your family, talk to your vendors, and make sure you don’t hear a word about it.

Let your day be filled with love, laughter, happy tears and memories to last a lifetime!

BBFN,

Olivia

The Color Palette to Inspire All of Our 2013 Brides!

To All the Newly Engaged Couples!

Congratulations! Now it is time to stop looking at your beautiful ring on your finger, and start planning! The wedding planning literally process starts at yes…

Now I know that as a young girl, or from attending the vast amount of friends and family weddings you've given yourself a foundation of how you might want your wedding to be - but we all know that as we grow older that image we all have been so focused on changes as style, colors, and fashion continue to be recycled and influence our daily life. That being said, as we wind up the summer weddings, we begin to look at whats to come next year.

I am pleased to announce that next years color palette begins with Crimson Orange/Red paired with a beautiful Deep Bright Royal Blue. With these color influences, your wedding will be as bright and beautiful as any South Asian Wedding can be. Now I know these colors are bold and bright, but don't be afraid of mixing with a softer palette of accents, from your flowers to your shoes and even your lipstick! A hint of any color can change the atmosphere creating it to be just as beautiful and personalized as you imagined it to be. By adding a beautiful bold purple, or softening it up with Rose Gold, and Light Soft Blue can inspire that Bride within you to come up with something fresh and new, and completely you.

Source: StyleMePretty.com

Source: Pintrest

According to the Head of our Design Studio here at Oliveaire - softer palettes mixed with a bright tone from bridesmaid dresses to wedding decor is what all brides are asking for next year. Soften the palette with a deeper purple or rose gold and a soft beautiful pink can make and enhance the night away in the same way.

Source: IndianWeddingSite.com

Source: IndianWeddingSite.com

There is so much you can do with your focus on this color to make it a fresh hint of just everything to tie your wedding together - even by making a signature drink out of it. As the fashion industry recycles, you’ll find the vintage trend become the trend to keep your eye out for. Checking out what Madhuri Dixit wore in one of her old films and making it modern might be what to look for next year as you Royal Maharanis plan your wedding. Color can truly define the atmosphere of your wedding, but choose a color that is you and one that is versatile. Anything you choose will be beautiful, because that day is all about you, my brides.

BBFN,
Olivia

Will you choose a Florist or a Designer?

Flowers and décor can be the next highest ticket item for a wedding. Aside from floral centerpieces, if one wants to truly create a stunning wedding, there are selection such as lines, lighting, chairs, lounge furniture, bellowing fabrics, illumination box etc etc. If the budget allows you to “Pimp Up” your big day, the most common question is should I choose a Florist or an Event Designer??

Florist
These can be neighborhood shops that have been part of the community for years. They cater to “foot traffic” and create arrangements that cater more towards the personal flowers. Some florists have taken on the additional business of weddings. However, they can be limited in their resources and inventory. They may tend to be less “hands-on”. They will not be a one stop shop if you want to add linen, lighting, etc. to your event. You will work individually with different vendors and connect the dots so to speak.

Price: Value to Middle


Event Designers
An Event Designer will create an overall design concept and ensure that the visual details are cohesive with the color story and floral palette. A Creative Director will select products from many resources and are not limited to inventory, color or design. They will spend time with each client to in creating a unique wedding day. It will reflect the couple’s personal style, and brand the event with layering of visual astonishment. A design studio can offer a complete look for your event including linens, furnishing, fabrics, up lighting, covered dance floor, custom products etc.


An Event Designer will have more flexibility on time. Service and Products will be the highest priority. They will have a trained crew to produce the event as it has been envisioned. Even if the company had partnered up to provide certain elements of the event, it is the Creative Director that will connect all the dots for a stunning wedding.

Price: Middle to High

As I always tell my newly engaged brides, inform yourself on the limitations of your wedding team. This will allow you to create a cohesive picture of your big day. The more you are vested with your vendors and they are vested with you, there won’t be any surprises as you walk down the aisle.

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now),
Olivia