TRENDING NOW

1) Sleek Porcelain

2) Utilitarian Spaces

3) Living Floral Arrangements

4) Copper

5) Tin Plates

6) Block Print

7) Glass Touches

8) Interactive Meetings

HOW TO DAIL UP THE SOUTHERN CHARM FOR YOUR NEXT GATHERING

Photo: Colorful Oil Lamps against rustic wall. Photo by Bianda Ahmad Hisham

Seems like everyone wants to emulate the South these day. Whether folks are "putting up" Mason Jars of Pickled Okra or adding a track of Shelby Lynn to their Playlist, the South has an irresistible draw. Here are a few ways to capture the sweet-as-Sorghum charm of the South for your next gathering or event.

Make it Homey. Of course, the heart of Southern Culture is the family home. Add some homespun nostalgia to your event by using items that could have been plucked from your Grandma's house. A honeypot filled with fresh cut flowers creates a wonderfully unique table centerpiece. Other homey items to consider:

-Vintage Silver

-Family Portraits

-Aging Photographs

-Family Photo Album

-Hurricane Lamps

-Antique Pepper Mill

Make it Farmy. Incorporating a farmy element will give your event a nice Southern rustic distinction. I suggest using classic farm tables (around ten feet in length) for dining instead of round tables. Typically, farm tables would be surrounded by benches. This creates a nice opportunity for a "family-style" dining. Also, filling hearty wooden bowls with fresh harvest vegetables for table decor will dramatcially punch up the farm element. Continue to accessorize with old farming and gardening tools or anything that may have been found around the farm for that matter. Old shovels, tins, chicken coops. My mother sets out her food for guests on an old carpenter's table treated with milk-paint for an extra weathered look. Guests get a kick out of it and always inquire about the origin of the piece.

Make it Bright. Cherry Red. Marmalade. Mint. Southerners love color so being bold with your palette is one of the best ways to dail up the Southern Charm for your next event. This is also a perfect opportunity to mix and match items your may otherwise think "I really like it, but it's a little much."

What to Serve:

-Apple Pie with Cornmeal Crust
-Sweet Potato Pancakes (silver dollar size for appetizer)
-Blackberry Margaritas
-Frogmore Stew (made with Georgia Brown Shrimp)
-Rustic, homemade Grits

Make it Literary. The Soul of the South is a collaboration from great writers like Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, and Tennessee Williams. Incorporate the soul of Southern Literature into your event by incorporating assorted Southern classics (early editions if you have them) like To Kill a Mockingbird and As I Lay Dying into your table vignettes. Arrange the piles of books in an aestetically pleasing way.

NEW FULLY GREEN DISPOSABLE ECO-CONSCIOUS TABLEWARE HITS MARKET

Photo: Courtesy of WASARA

Every now and then we come across an impressive event-centric product that we'd like to share with you. This week, we'd like to feature WASARA, a stylish and fully biodegradable tableware. The newest arrival to the North American Eco-Tableware Market, WASARA is made from a mix of reed pulp, bamboo, and sugarcane by-products. WASARA offers a Japanese design aesthetic, sturdy quality and 100% biodegradability. If you'd like to elevate the eco-consciousness of your next event, consider WASARA as a planet-healthy tableware alternative. For purchasing information: http://www.branchhome.com/

TRENDING NOW

1) flaming orange, seafoam green, coral

2) wicker & rattan

3) light, fresh, clean

4) cattails & bamboo

5) textiles & patterns

6) utilitarian

7) light, fresh, clean

8) nostalgia

9) screens and partitions

10) brightess & motion

DEDUCTIVE DYNAMIC DESIGN by Deb Steege

Illustration by D. Steege

Lately, our design team seems to be working backwards. By that I mean we've been selecting one hard-and-fast visual element with loads of pop and personality to guide our design process. Of course, the client is always the one dictating the specific direction of our design compass. North, South, East, West, we'll go where ever they ask. "I want lighted platforms" the client said, "and can you make them a little unique?" she asked. "I also want the design to have a modern, chic-y, lounge effect." Off we went. Obviously, the lighted platforms were our jumping off point. Since the platforms were the primary design element she articulated - it would be the end point from which we'd be working backwards.

We decided building a series of 10' x 16' pure white wooden platforms and lighting each from the bottom up would create an interesting warm, chic illumination. Those lighted platforms dictated the rest of our design. To dial up the loungy notes we designed sheer white fabric cabanas and placed them on top of the illuminating platforms. Uber-cool. Pure white contemporary furniture awaited guests behind the parted cabana fabric. The custom cabanas provided an ideal enclave in which smaller groups could gather to share a drink and some conversation. Chrome spheres in an array of shapes and sizes, glowing white votive candles and smart accessory pillows completed the ultra-modern fabric cabana lounges.

Groupings of highboy tables with self-illuminating pedestals, transluscent wave walls, 12" internally lit chrome sphere chandeliers, and colored orchids in assorted clear glass containers were some of the other elements incorporated into the design to complete this chic, modern look. Each design detail sprang from the client's original request for a unique, lighted platform. More and more our design team is discovering that designing deductively is the most efficient way of producing dynamic design results.

EQUALLY WED LAUNCHES MAGAZINE

We'd like to congratulate Equally Wed, A Same-Sex Wedding Magazine based in Atlanta. The magazine had a robust debut at last week's premier party. Equally Wed is chock full of tips, hints, ideas, resources, and advice from beauty and grooming, honeymoons, floral and decor to family matters, cakes, and photography. Click here to preview premier issue: http://www.equallywed.com/

GREEN EVENT IDEAS

Please click here for our vendor partner Novare Event's Myrna Antar's latest blog posting on "Green Event Ideas."

http://www.novareevents.blogspot.com/