The Most Perfect Day for a Wedding

Some couples have all the luck when it comes to weather on their wedding day, but I have to say, this one might have been the most glorious day ever. All the elements fell into place: a picturesque church, a one-of-a-kind-tent at their cottage, a stunning bride and one of the most rockin' parties I have ever witnessed. You can read about how we built the tent for this couple in the previous post, but in the meantime, take a look at how Bruce Patterson and his team at Cloud Nine Creative captured the magic that happened that day. Keep an eye out for the charming church, perched on a cliff and the late afternoon light that shone on Patrick and Fernanda as they were boating back from their ceremony to the cottage -- it was almost otherworldly... Turn on your speakers and enjoy!

Fernanda + Patrick Highlights from Cloud Nine Creative on Vimeo.

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...

Gabi's Getting Married!!!

Wheeeee! Our very own Gabi and her Mr. Right got engaged earlier this month on a ski hill in Telluride, Colorado! I see a great opportunity for us to follow along as The Planner becomes The Bride and she plans her own wedding for August of 2014... Watch this space... this is going to be fun!

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...

Putting the Fun Back into FUNdraising

Back in November, we planned a cocktail reception for the Lung Cancer Canada annual gala at The Arcadian Loft. Our mandate was to design an evening that was as far-away-as-possible from the typical sit down dinner/rubber chicken affairs that too many gala-goers have to endure. We were also asked to come up with something novel to replace the omnipresent Silent Auction... And to that end, we incorporated a "game" into an otherwise elegant and on-point evening. 

I can't take credit for the idea: my mother used to do this at my birthday parties when I was but a young 'un. Everyone would sit in a circle and pass a present (wrapped in multiple layers of paper) around, while some random song played on my 45RPM record player. When the music stopped, the person holding it would unwrap a layer and so it would go until the final layer revealed the prize inside. We thought it might be fun to try this on a larger scale -- because, really, who doesn't love to open presents? -- all while raising funds for lung cancer research. I'll show you the pics from the game, but first, a little background:

The Lung Cancer Canada logo is a pair of green leaves, attached to look like a set of lungs. The symbolism of the leaf was a big part of our mandate that evening. This photo is of the pins that were given out to guests when they registered that evening.

Decor was kept simple, both for financial and esthetic reasons:  vases, filled with salal leaves and green votive candles everywhere.

A big, (wo)man-made tree stood in the centre of the room, representing The Grove, a memorial area in Sunnybrook Park where trees are planted in memory of people who have lost their battles with lung cancer. You can see some of the leaves that we 'sold' that evening to play our game dangling from the branches.

The next photo lists the prizes to be won and the costs associated to join the fun. This is something we stressed very heavily to the committee: we didn't need a lot of prizes, but we needed really, really great ones. There was nothing on that list that was worth less than $500; the Grand Prize was a diamond necklace worth $2200! Talk about a good return on a $20 leaf!

So here's the promised explanation of the gist of the game: there were 11 presents, all wrapped in different shades of green on the table. Guests needed to 'buy' leaves from volunteers wandering the room; and could, in turn, redeem each leaf to unwrap ONE layer of paper on the present of their choice. What people didn't know was how many layers of paper there were on any given box... some had as many as 47 (and yes, Gabi and I had the pleasure of wrapping each and everyone one of those!) and some had as few as 10. An important rule was that people couldn't touch the parcel before taking off a layer, because you could feel which ones had a lot of padding... And that would be cheating...

And so, once the speeches were done, our little corner of fun opened up and it was so exciting for Gabi and I to see the great response to our idea. Not to mention the gratification for the seemingly endless hours we spent wrapping... Here are a few of shots of the first people to partake:

Here's a picture of the very first winner, who won a $500 gift certificate to William Ashley! Look at the smiles on their faces -- one of the best parts of this game was how people reverted to their childlike selves:

Next I'm going to show you an uninterrupted series of pictures of a woman who THOUGHT she'd won, only to discover that we'd tricked her. Here's the reason: some of the wrapping was getting so thick (and you could visually tell there were a lot of layers on there), that we started putting boxes inside boxes, so that we could start with a clean slate, wrapping wise. Watch the progression of her experience:

What a fun part of the night it was -- people LOVED it and it created excitement all 'round. We sold out of leaves sooner than we ever could have imagined; the response was that enthusiastic. Gabi and I looked at each other at the end of the evening and said, "Could you imagine how much more we could've raised if we'd had more prizes and more people to help us wrap these damn boxes?!!" Alas... It's good to set goals and now we have something to work towards for NEXT year!

Very sincere thanks to our friend T.H. Jackson Huang from IKONICA for donating his time and talent to take photos for us. And to DJ Michael Coombs for spinning the tunes and giving the space a great atmosphere from the moment it kicked off. And to Gisele Sterling from Sterling Kjargaard for tying all those ribbons on the leaves, making our tree and for working so tirelessly, even with such a small budget. Go team!

Erin & Robert's Same-Day-Edit

Erin + Robert {Same-Day-Edit} from Cloud Nine Creative on Vimeo.

2012: A Year in Review

Phew. What a year. We helped plan and throw some pretty incredible parties, even by our own critical standards. We built tents in highly unusual places, continually surprised & delighted clients and guests alike, all while pushing our own boundaries to create celebrations that were true to our company tag line: events without equal. And this year, thanks to some really brave and adventurous clients, we did just that, over and over again.

But it wasn't just about our clients. I thought it might be fun to dedicate this, the final post of 2012, to some of the wonderful people we worked with over the last 12 months who helped us make every party more spectacular than the one that came before. Without this motley crew of friends and colleagues, our events would never have been what they were. Most of these pictures were snapped by either Gabi or I, using all we had on us at the time (our trusty iPhones), but in spite of the occasional blurry image, they do manage to tell a good story:

Here are the boys from Contemporary Furniture Rentals, meticulously polishing the white plexi dance floor after laying it down. Ladies, when was the last time you saw any man polish a floor, let alone EIGHT of them??? For those people who say CFRentals are more expensive than some other rental companies out there, consider photos like this as Exhibit A: Everything from that company --and I mean everything-- is in perfect condition when your guests arrive. That, to me, is priceless.

And here is their boss, the supercalifragilistic Peter Somers before an engagement party at Bymark, doing what he loves to do best: measuring within an inch of his life, 'murse' on hip and bossing us all around...

This would be our favourite Superhero, Dennis Large from Advanced Tent, out in his kayak on a cold spring day, measuring where we were going to float our 5000 sq.ft. tent and the depth of the water on little Lake Joe. Funny how this photo seems like years ago to me now...

Did I mention Dennis is a bit of a MacGyver? In addition to building floating palaces, he also constructs fire pits INSIDE his tents so that guests can gather 'round, roast marshmallows and warm their toes. Here he is again, with our irreplaceable Gary Rollerson, helping Dennis quietly and tirelessly behind the scenes...

Meet Gisele Sterling's crew from Sterling Kjargaard, working in the boiling hot sun in July, creating a magical ceremony space for Erin & Robert to wed a few hours later. Thousand upon thousands of white roses were put into wood frames that were later moved to become the backdrop for the band during dinner and dancing. Roses were cascading off the railings as well -- not the best angle to see that from, I admit, but perhaps I'll show how great it looked from the other side one day in another post.

And this is the other half of Sterling Kjargaard, Todd Kjargaard and his team, painstakingly putting down the moss runner that our bride and groom would walk up to say their vows later that day. For me, this detail just finished the space so perfectly. We had discussed doing a patterned moss runner at one point, but I'm thrilled we went with the simpler, more organic design in the end. It felt way more authentic given that we were, quite literally, in the middle of the woods.

While we're on the topic of beautiful things, no post would be complete without a shout out to our two favourite Event Designers, Lidia Tacconelli and Bill Fulghum. It would seem that everyone and their dog these days calls themselves an event "designer," but boy, when you play with the Big Guns, you get to see what real talent, creativity and innovation is -- and these two never cease to surprise and amaze us. What an privilege it is to get to work with Lidia and Bill, year after year.

Here are Lidia Tacconelli and her crew from FIORI Floral Designs... check her out in the second photo with the measuring tape (I seem to be attracted to people that love to measure -- what is that about?), double-checking the exact spacing between each arrangement, leaving nothing to chance. Love that.

Oh yeah: Our Favourite Diva and Perfect Gentleman, all wrapped into one crazily-creative man: the one and only Bill Fulghum. This is him setting up at the AGO for a Sikh wedding ceremony. I wish I had more of the gorgeous and understated background in this particular photo... but alas, his expression is worth more than a pretty backdrop.

How could I forget our lovely A/V and all-round-go-to-guy Alan Bisson? Poor Alan -- we threw just about every challenge we could dream up at him this year: he was dangling in trees rigging chandeliers, cableling all power through the ceiling for that tent that was literally on the water (electricity + water = scary), dealing with diva demands from fancy big-name performers, fixing staff washrooms that were on the fritz, appeasing cranky carpet layers & exhausted draping people, all while making this planner happy -- no small feat indeed. Seriously, this is one person who singlehandedly made the impossible possible. And, while I realize we drove you to distraction repeatedly, know that we love you Alan!

Who says there was no drama this year? Here we are at The Carlu for our WedLuxe Style Files shoot: Luminous Lavender. Seconds after Allyson & Sarah from Bobbette & Belle arrived to deliver their cake, one of the glass shelves holding hundreds of lavender roses suddenly broke in two, shattering the containers and scattering flowers and petals EVERYWHERE. Everyone pitched in to tidy and try to salvage what we could: this is Allyson, Sarah, Gisele and myself working as fast as we could...

Mission accomplished: another shelf was found, roses, containers et al were replaced and none of our WedLuxe readers were any the wiser for the behind-the-scenes heart attack about 8 of us had that day! Here is Jackson Huang of Ikonica getting his picture: I love how he makes this look like it was an action shot, when in fact it was far more of a still life...

No year-end wrap-up would be complete without talking about one of the less glamourous (but essential) parts of our job: g.a.r.b.a.g.e. Yes readers, you would die if you saw how much refuse was generated on every single event that is thrown across this city. And nowhere is it more apparent than when we build tents on private property. Here are some beauties:

This first one is an entire 1-800-GOT-JUNK truck filled with garbage and empties that were crated away the day after Erin & Robert's gorgeous affair... Yes, the aftermath of a wedding is never pretty -- I always warn clients to stay away if at all possible; it's downright depressing, on so many levels!

And here are Gabi and I posing with one of the bins from our Caledon wedding. Admittedly, this was our biggest event of the year, but that bin was one of THREE that were emptied every single day during the build and I believe a total of five more times during the tear down. Even after all these years, the amount of garbage generated by our parties never ceases to amaze me. Not to mention the cost to haul it all away...

And now it's time to turn our focus to the SpectacularSpectacular team... because, really, without them, NONE of this would or could have happened.

Here is Gabi, standing in the middle of the pouring rain, walkie-talkie on hip, trying (uselessly) to make a cellular phone call while executing a wedding in Algonquin Park. I gather this was one of the more challenging events EVER! Not only did it rain for 3 days straight, all the power went off across the entire park 20 minutes before our bride was to walk down the mud-soaked aisle and my poor girls had to sleep in camp cabins with no heat at night. Think 3 degrees celsius INSIDE the cabin... we Canadians are pretty hardy people, but dammit, our buildings need to be warm! Thank goodness all the guests were 'camp' people who loved every minute of the experience and wholeheartedly embraced the absurdity of the situation. It turns out a little rain may not have ever hurt anyone, but it sure doesn't make for fun working conditions...

And here's our Transportation Guru and all 'round super trouper Sarah, posing with her NBF, Donna of Hammond Transportation in Muskoka this past July. When planning cottage/destination extravaganzas, the successful management of transportation becomes a critical part of the success of the event. At any given Muskoka wedding, consider these facts: let's say there will be approximately 200 guests -- all arriving in a crush for the ceremony, but leaving at different times throughout the night. Some will need to be bused from hotels, some will arrive in limousines and many will travel by boat. There will also be anywhere from 60-100 staff members who need to park their vehicles somewhere and then be shuttled to and from the property throughout the event. Sarah oversees ALL of this. The poor girl spent the summer (standing in her sexy safety vest) directing bodies in EVERY kind of condition: from the boiling hot sun, to torrential rains, to finally being able to see her breath in late September... yet she always had a smile on her face and a warm greeting for everyone she met.

Finally, on a funny note, I leave you with the smallest member of our team, my dog Jinx La Rue. This was taken during the building of the tent city that was Erin & Robert's wedding. You may recognize the wisteria from somewhere...

With that, I bid goodbye to 2012. It was a great year -- full of challenges and hurdles to overcome, for sure, but ultimately,  one that Gabi, Sarah and I look back on with great satisfaction and pride. Thank you to EVERYONE who came along for the ride. I wonder what surprises lie ahead for 2013?

A very Happy New Year to all. Over 'n out.