The Story of a Little Floating Tent

Once upon a time, we had a client with very steep property in cottage country... when the tent guys went to measure, they pointed to the water and joked, "we should just put the tent out there." The client, being something of a man of vision, jumped at the idea. And thus begun our odyssey to figure out how to not only make this happen, but to make this exacting man happy.

The first plan was to build the deck (or in non-event-speak: the tent floor) on top of scaffold, which would lie on the lake bottom. This presented us with all kinds of issues, the first being obtaining permits from the Department of Oceans and Fisheries in case we disturbed the natural habitat of any creatures who live below amongst the rocks and gunk. The second was that we found out that the lake bottom wasn't very solid at all; it turned out that our client had had to drive-pile almost 45-feet down to find bedrock when he erected his boat house. That seemed a little excessive for our One Night Affair... and so our quest continued.

Next, we looked at renting barges, tying them up together and putting a tent up on them... but the main challenge was that barges are in high demand in the summer months, being the workhorses that carry equipment and materials to properties under construction -- and, as we discovered, no barge operator was willing to give up three barges for the more than three weeks we'd need them. Not to mention that barges aren't very pretty. Yes, I said it: they're generally scuffed up, different and/or multi-coloured, with stuff all over their decks and sit very high above the water. Our aesthetically-minded client didn't care for this option at all.

That was when his landscaper suggested contacting the people that manufacture floating docks, and that's just what Dennis Large of Advanced Tent did. Experts were consulted (it turned out there were none -- as no one had ever tried anything like this before) engineers were called in, measurements and calculations were made, budgets were approved and finally --finally!-- the big day arrived. And I'm not referring to the wedding day... It was Let's Build a Tent on Water Day! The first to arrive? The pontoons: over 70 were brought in on a barge one sunny day, about a month before the wedding itself. The next few photos document how Dennis and his boys brought the vision to life:

 

Here are some fun stats about what went into it to make it float:

- 9 x 2000 pound weights went into the water to anchor the structure

- 75 pontoons: 18" in diameter and 24' in length

- 360 2 x 8 x 16's 

- 900 1/2" bolts

- 160 sheets of 3/4" plywood

- Dozens of trips to the closest hardware store, 30 minutes away

- Several involuntary 'slips' into the water

And so the boys went forth, connecting the pontoons together to slowly start building our floating palace. You can see it coming together now:

The finished deck measured 50' x 100' -- a full 5000 square feet of 'blank canvas' for Event Designer Bill Fulghum to conjure up his magic and bring the all-white vision our bride requested to reality.

So now it was time to build the floor and then erect the structure itself... 

Next came the rigging, draping and carpet. For the record,  white carpet in tents drive me crazy -- every single person has to put little blue disposable booties on once the plastic cover comes off; it makes setting up tables, chairs, plates, glassware, decor, bar ware etc. so much more work! 

The next picture is one I've already posted, but here it is in new context:

This was the view from the tent as the bathroom trailer came into the bay; you can see where we are in the progress of things: the drape is up, the railings are on, the wiring for lighting & sound and plexi shelves has been completed and the plush, white carpet has been laid. In case you missed my previous blog post about floating toilets, there was simply no place to put a 32' unit on this property. Plus, I figured if the tent is going to float,  we might as well do the same with the bathrooms!

So that brings us to the big day itself. This was our first time working with the internationally-celebrated photographer Jerry Ghionis and his wife Melissa and they captured the following beautiful photos:

Our bride had been inspired by another all-white, tented wedding we'd done a few years before that appeared in the Summer/Fall 2009 issue of WedLuxe magazine (click here to see it). No matter what chandelier/lighting alternatives we showed her, we couldn't sway her from the floating plexi shelves, hovering above the tables, laden with candles!

Here's a fun shot, showing one of the plexi shelves with the hundreds of glass balls that hung over the dance floor in the background. They alternated with candles or phalaenopsis orchids inside.

These are some floral details. Every woman got a single orchid at her place setting and the troughs running down the centres of the tables alternated: two rows had roses bordered with ferns and one had roses with baby's breath -- a flower that, apparently, has great symbolism in our bride's native Brazil.

Finally -- the Grande Finale -- fireworks out on the lake, with a great view of our Little Floating Tent from the water.

Hard to believe all this effort goes into one (albeit perfect) night, isn't it? But that's what we do and, quite honestly, challenges like this are what float our boats. Or in this case, float our tents...

A Night at The Museum

Another oldie but goodie -- it's beyond high time for me to share some of the glorious details from Shelby and Graeme's wedding, held at the Royal Ontario Museum (affectionately known as The ROM) one beautiful day in June...

Regrettably, this tends to be a habit with me: we are so busy planning and executing events all the time that sometimes it requires real focus to go back in time and write about previous events. It's kind of like: "been there, done that." However, in the case of a wedding like this one, it's a crime for me not to have shared some of these photos before now and for that, dear readers, I apologize profusely.

I remember that we did things a little differently at this wedding and held cocktail hour BEFORE the ceremony. The problem with getting old is that I can't recall why we did it -- in that there were practical and logistical reasons -- but as I write this, it's not coming to me!! 

There's the stunning orchid arrangement in the middle of the Rotunda, that you will be able to get a better sense of the scale of it in the next photo. It literally towered above everyone's heads.

I love, love LOVE this photo -- it shows just how massive this arrangement was. And in a room that is this majestic, you really need something with true presence to even begin to compete with the spectacular setting.

Now we move chronologically with guests upstairs to the Bronfman Gallery, where the all-white ceremony took place in this clean, loft-like space. The aisle was lined with poufs of white hydrangea, as were the windowsills above. All leading down to the stunning chuppah in the centre of the room...

The four legs were pavéed with perfect, cream roses and finished with garlands of white dendrobium orchids. The canopy is something that deserves to have it's moment in the spotlight: Shelby's father had it made when her older sister got married and so far, only the two girls have their names and dates embroidered on a side each. There are two blank sides left, just waiting for Shelby's other sister and brother to join them up there when they each get married one day...

One other thing to mention is that, while it might not look like it, the chuppah was actually in the middle of the room and there was a whole other set of chairs mirroring what you can see in this photo. We had to maximize every inch of space in order to accommodate the 250 guests.

A close up of one of the legs of the chuppah. Each one of those roses was chosen for it's consistent size, condition and colouration, treated and then glued into place by members of the FIORI team. It took hours to complete. Each leg had four sides, and multiply that by 4 legs... I think you get my drift: there were a lot of roses!

So now, the ceremony is done. Shelby and Graeme are happily married and it's time to go back downstairs to the Currelly Gallery, where dinner and dancing await... In this photo, you can see the beautiful drapes we had custom made for the occasion: instead of typical, sheer fabric, these were sewn from 2 colours of gorgeous peau de soie. I doubt many guests noticed the quality of the fabric enveloping them in the room, but it was simply another small detail that went a long way to 'finishing' the environment.

Here's a close up of the head table. The regal gold cutlery sat aside beaded gold chargers and votive candles that the team at FIORI had gold-leafed by hand because we couldn't find anything we liked better! Even the menus were printed with raised, gold thermography lettering.

This is a rather abstract shot, looking head-on at the front of the head table. You can see the phaleonopsis orchids spilling over the front (casting such wonderful, animated shadows), the roses and the hydrangea behind them and then the custom-built wall in the background, behind the table.

And a cleaner view of said wall...

This wedding was the first time event designers Bill Fulghum of William Fulghum Design Associates and Lidia Tacconelli of FIORI had ever collaborated. When the original florist dropped out for personal reasons, Bill and I looked at each other and knew that there was only ONE person who had the team, infrastructure and organizational abilities to handle this job, and that was Lidia. The main reason is the museum itself: it is a fully-functioning MUSEUM! That means that we don't even have access to the rooms before 3:00 on the day of any given event. Now that you know this, go back, look at the pictures above (with the exception of the ceremony area, which admittedly we had more time in), and realize that all that set up was done in three hours.  Yes, three short hours. 

And yes, we were pretty proud of ourselves. THAT much I  do remember...

If this wedding looks familiar to you, it should! It was featured in the Winter/Spring 2012 edition of WedLuxe magazine. Click here for a link to the story and the photos.

Thank you to our friend Storey Wilkins for being on hand and doing what you do best: taking beautiful and meaningful photos of days that go by so quickly. Months and months of planning and then --poof-- it's over in a matter of hours. We are very reliant on our photographers to capture and immortalize these days for us. And Storey is one of the very best at doing that...

There Were Signs All Along

We did the coolest wedding back in September. Our groom had a vision to get married in a clearing in the woods; and, boy, we did it up in style! Female guests were encouraged to wear their flats for the picturesque walk in and out of the forest. We hung signs along the way: Each one said one thing going in to the woods and then, during the ceremony, we flipped them over to reveal a different message as guests made their way out to the reception.

Deborah Lau Yu from Palettera Custom Correspondences illustrated 3 different versions by hand and mounted them on board that my poor team had to tie around trees at just the right height. The small army of photographers on hand that day from 5ive15ifteen Photo Company snapped these photos; they make me smile, every time I look at them.

This one still cracks me up: You're Almost, Almost There. It was probably only a 5 minute walk in the woods in total, but I thought it might be a good idea to let guests know it wasn't much further!

At this point, guests exited the main path and began the final leg in. Once they turned left, this is what they saw:

Sixteen waiters lined the footpath with glasses of festive pink champagne. Guests were able to take these into the ceremony site, where they were continually topped up until the ceremony began. On the way out, these same waiters lined up with trays of delectable hors d'oeuvre. We may have been in a forest, but our revelers were made to feel they were at a five-star restaurant. Albeit a five-star restaurant with trees in it...

This was the payoff for all their efforts: the enchanted ceremony location. I'm sure I'll write another post about what went into creating this one day, but for now, sit back and enjoy the magical setting, courtesy of the fertile imagination of Event Designer Bill Fulghum.

After the ceremony was done, guests started the walk out. Join them now as we exit the forest together... These are the 'new' messages on the signs:

Lindsay + Jamie: Before and After

We had such great response to our previous 'Before and After' post that I thought we should do it again, this time with the wedding of Lindsay and Jamie that was so beautifully captured by Anthony Manieri of 5ive15ifteen Photo Company and gorgeously featured in the Winter/Spring edition of WedLuxe magazine. I've started this post with an 'after' shot first (because it just looks better as the first image!), but from here on in, we'll go to 'before' pictures first...

 

Here's the view, looking in the same direction, taken the day before, just as they were starting to rig the ceiling with all the AV equipment. This is the order in which a tent wedding comes to life: 1. Floor, 2: Tent, 3. AV/electrical and chandeliers, if required, 4. Draping, 5. Carpet, 6. Furniture, 7. Floral/decor and finally, 8. People!

Now we move to the big day itself... You can see that the ceiling is draped, the carpet and tables are laid and Gisele and Co. are starting to load the floral in. Way off in the distance, you can see the chairs are already in place for the ceremony later that afternoon...

This shot shows how everything came together on the tables... our 'Garden Inside a Tent' concept come to life... I always say that once clients have planned a wedding, they'll never attend another one in quite the same way! After you've spent months and months on every little detail, down to which rose will sit in which way on which linen napkin, you notice things you never would before planning your own...

The Money Shot: Gabi kept the vinyl tent sides on to keep guests out until Anthony had finished taking photos. This picture shows the massive floral pieces hanging over the dance floor; they were covered with hydrangea, roses and phalaenopsis orchids and the actual structures mimicked the boxes on the tables that held the topiaries.

And finally, our charming couple, twirling around the dance floor for their First Dance... To read their wedding story as it appeared in the pages of WedLuxe Magazine, click here.