Quote of the Year: 2012?

"My feet hurt more today 

than they did after 

I ran the Chicago Marathon."

Sarah Farr
September 16, 2012
The day after our own 'marathon' wedding and a full 23-hours on our feet.

Arboriculture 101

Once Upon a Time, someone had the brilliant idea to incorporate the apple orchard we were putting a tent into, into the tent...  The trouble is, this build is so complicated (multiple, massive tents with different flooring elevations), that the tents started to go up 5 weeks before the actual event.

So the family's arborist swung by and offered up a dire warning: If we didn't leave some roof panels off so that they continued to be exposed to natural light, the trees wouldn't have any leaves left on them by the time the wedding day came around. Oh oh.

One of the things I love most about my job is that we learn something new (and usually VERY random) on every single project. This particular wedding is one of the biggest we'll do all year, with hundreds of people involved... but all anyone can talk and fret about is four apple trees!!

Herein lies the problem: the event is still a week away, but as of two days ago, the roof panels HAD to go back on; A/V work had to be completed, draping need to be done... not to mention carpet and flooring needs to go in -- none of that can happen if the roof panels are open.

So the lovely arborist, Patrick from Arborcon, started consulting experts from all across North America to see what the solution would be. No one wanted to hurt these poor, innocent apple trees who, through none of their own doing, suddenly found themselves plunked inside a dark tent. Especially since I had personally promised my client that "No trees will be harmed in the making of your wedding..."

The answer: UV-emitting lights that cast the RIGHT combination of light on the trees (who knew that that was such an important balance?) But of course it wasn't as easy as that sentence might imply -- the first lights we got didn't do the trick. They were very expensive and pulled a ton of power off the generator; not to mention they didn't radiate enough of the 'right' light. The arborist deemed them unacceptable. So we kept looking and found these ones. It's hard to tell the scale of this from these photos, but those lights are about 20 feet up in the air. 

You think brides are demanding? You should meet my apple trees! I can't wait to share the professional photos of the finished tent once the wedding happens. By the way and in case you're wondering, absolutely no one is concerned about the four oak trees at the corners of the sunken dance floor... Apparently oak trees 'push their leaves' at a very different time of year.

Again... who knew?

The View From Here: Bymark

 

Just wanted to share this really cool photo taken at an engagement party Gabi planned at Bymark restaurant last weekend. The ever-fabulous Michael Greenberg of Phototerra fame came in to town to shoot this for us.

We tented the patio with as-big-of-a-tent-as-we-could-possibly-fit, then filled it with Indian-inspired food, Bhangra music and the guests did the rest! The contrast of the bright-coloured saris against the black tent was just gorgeous.