My Event Tent app August 30, 2011

Are you an event planner, production manager, caterer, or mother-of-the-bride planning an outdoor event? Ever thought about how much easier your job would be if you could plug in a few numbers and accessory items, and then receive the approximate tent size and square footage you need?

Well, look no further because the My Event Tent app has arrived! Developed for the Android Market and iTunes App Store, the app can be downloaded for free. Choose from a checklist of options relating to rentals, such as the type of event, number of guests, accessories, and other requests. The approximate tent size and square footage required is then calculated and displayed. At that point, you can choose to proceed to the next step and submit the information for a quote. The request is forwarded to specific Tent Rental Division member companies within your zip code area. This is especially beneficial for planners who serve multiple cities.

Take our word for it…download the My Event Tent app via Android Market or iTunes App Store (coming soon). Your event (and your customer) will thank you for it!

With My Event Tent, go from this…

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To this…

HOT Trend: Glassware for serving food! October 27, 2010

What’s hot right now? Glassware for food serving! Hors d’Oeuvres, desserts, you name it… This season, it’s all about nontraditional presentations.

If you’re looking to break the traditional five-course approach, base your wedding reception on cocktails and appetizers. This catering serving style allows for more variety and ample opportunity for creative presentation ideas.

Serve a signature dish, like shrimp and grits, at a customized martini station. Feature a mashed potato bar for your guests to dress how they want. And desserts? The possibilities are endless!

These culinary works of art create an intimate social atmosphere for your guests.

Creating the Ultra Lounge April 7, 2010

Whether you’re planning a contemporary wedding or an upscale corporate event, an ultra lounge is the ultimate addition to any event.  To set the scene for the lounge, it’s all about lighting and furniture.  Let’s face it… what’s an ultra lounge without “lounge” furniture?

You don’t have to go all out and spend your entire budget on elaborate lighting effects.  Adding a couple simple and affordable can lights with color gels are a wonderful way to incorporate your theme colors, create a fun, party atmosphere, and transform a boring wall into a vibrant accent.  Lighting is a simple, cost-effective way to keep the WOW factor you’re going for with minimal effort.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to lounge furniture.  While your options used to be limited to couches and chairs, there are now multiple pieces to fill up your lounge.  From banquettes to sofas to end tables to a variety of couches and chairs, lounge furniture is a great way to spice up your event.  LED bars, tables, lamps, and other decor pieces, all of which can be set to the color of your choice, give your event that extra touch of chic.

Do you have a pool, pond, or other small body of water right in the middle of your event space?  Setting up clear acrylic flooring over the pool not only provides a unique dance floor, it also giving you more options for lighting.  To keep the cords and wires from plain view, we can set them up in the corners of the covered area.  The lighting will reflect off both the water and the flooring material, creating the full lounge effect.

If you’ve opted for a tent, an ceiling liner can add a dramatic effect, again with minimal effort.  Not only does it set an elegant vibe and cover tent poles and framing, but you can also adjust the lights to shine in specific areas, which can create another dimension to your look.

There are several other accessories you can add to your ultra lounge…  staging, various dance floor pieces, AC/heating, and more.

Spring has sprung! April 1, 2010

I know it’s been a while since our last post, but never fear!  We’ll be posting quite a few updates over the next few months as we introduce our new party rental items.

Spring is finally here!  And with a new season comes new trends.  This year, it’s all about creativity, going green, simplicity, and keeping it comfortable.

LED Bar

With the economy not yet back to “the way things were,” we’re all searching high and low to make sure we get the best bang for our buck.  That’s where creativity comes into play.  Finding decor you can use again and again, in different ways, can save you a lot of time and money.

Going eco-conscious while entertaining is a great way to be “green.”  Think electronic and send e-vites rather than printed invitations…  Rent tableware vs. buying paper or plastic.  Not only is it environmentally-friendly, but it can often give your event a fresh, clean look.  Using LED lights add a dramatic effect and can minimize the need for other decor.

Just because you’re keeping it simple doesn’t mean you can’t still have that WOW! factor you’re going for.  The solution is to create a dramatic effect on the minimal side and staying within your budget.  Try a simple floral arrangement of a single orchid or votive candle floating in water.  Rather than going all-out on a band, have a friend DJ your event with his or her iPod.

Comfort is key this season.  Let’s face it… we all love comfort food.  And a comfortable atmosphere is what keeps a party going.

Be sure to check out next week’s post on creating the ultimate ultra lounge!

The Ultra Lounge! March 30, 2010

Here is just one theme from “Meet Mahaffey” – the incredible open house that allowed us to transform our warehouse into the most fabulous event space! Here is the super suave tent that was constructed inside the warehouse and transformed into an ultra lounge. We used a clear dance floor, which is typically placed over a pool or body of water… just to show it off. We added some fun silver beads and confetti to spice it up a bit, since it was placed over concrete and not a pool.

The white leather lounge furniture was accented with green lighting. Haute Horticulture created a floral chandelier out of white roses and Bells of Ireland- which served as our focal point. This was definitely where the party was at- and The Kevin and Bethany Paige Band kept us moving all night!

- Thank you to Social Butterflies for their fabulous guests posts on “Meet Mahaffey!”

Hollywood Chic! March 8, 2010

Table # 4 from Meet Mahaffey was all about luxury and VIP treatment. From the white draped curtains dripping with crystals to the custom serpentine table and linen we used-no expense was spared!

We also used some lounge style club chairs for seating to give variety and add comfort.

The incredible floral arrangement that swept across the top of the S shaped table was contemporary and chic. Lots of blue led lights and lighting set the table scape off and made you feel like you were in a Hollywood night club.

We even added acrylic menus that were lit with little blue led lights for that over the top touch!

All white can be so many different things for an event and the lighting was key to turning this vignette into our vision of VIP in Hollywood-oh so chic!

Flutter back by for our last vignette-Pink Palace-later this week!

- Thank you to Social Butterflies for their fabulous guest posts on “Meet Mahaffey!”

Table #3- Art Deco Butterfly! March 5, 2010

So y’all have now heard all about Meet Mahaffey and our various vignettes, the Scarlet Silhouette and the Shabby Chic ones. Of course, in true Butterfly fashion, we had to include our signature in the decor somewhere! Therefore, today I want to show y’all our vignette #3: Art Deco Butterfly!

We decided that orange and purple would stand out from the rest of our vignettes as a refreshing and contemporary twist. We wanted to incorporate branchy and floral elements to soften the look, and of course pave the way for the incorporation of butterflies. Check out the unique butterfly gobo light on the backdrop!

Anyone who knows us also knows how much we love details! Intricate and eye catching extras will get your guests talking and looking closer at your meticulous design. On a table setting you should always try to reinvent the purpose of each element on the table. Chairs can be a canvas for splashes of color such as chair pads, like the orange ones pictured.  Our butterflies resting on the chair backs look like they fluttered on by to keep diners company. A dramatic centerpiece and chandelier adds height and luxury to the look.  Check out the delicately strung purple orchid leis!

We got creative with the napkin folding around the menus and incorporated vibrant orange orchids to splash up the look. Luxurious clusters of candles will drape your guests in a warm glow and add movement to the scene. Personal bottles of wine are offered in copper buckets with accents of purple ribbon. The bottles rest on a bed of river rocks in the bucket to continue the natural theme. The linen is a bold art-deco print that ties together all the colors. Crisp white plates rest on orange chargers and purple napkins top it all off.

When it comes to table design, the sky’s the limit! Get creative and get your guests talking- give us a call if you need help!

- Thank you to Social Butterflies for their fabulous guest posts on “Meet Mahaffey!”

Shabby Chic-Lemon’! March 2, 2010

Table #2 at the “Meet Mahaffey” Open House…. a touch of whimsy on the 22′high back drop of a fence lined with Cherry Blossom Trees.

Part of transforming the warehouse space was working with backdrops to completely hide the walls and ceiling (and lots of other stuff!). So, we created a vignette using a tent structure without the fabric to hang bird cages from in yellow and tiffany blue. Our linen was a tiffany crush-that has some gold shimmer to it and we used white chateau chairs with yellow chair pads and ruffled pillows in a contrasting shade of tiffany blue. Haute Horticulture did fabulous center pieces for each guest-yellow button mums to look like lemon pies-placed on antique white scalloped cake stands. The main center piece matched as well and was housed inside a vintage tea tin. Little ceramic birds and birds nests were scattered about the table and for our place cards and favors we had jars of lemon jam covered in vintage fabric with each guests name adorning the top of the jar. Cute!

Yellow scalloped edge napkins and custom menus were the final touches to the table. Our backdrop included lots of shabby windows with hanging testubes of flowers and some other bird cages on stands and a really awesome shabby chair that Jaime found on the street! The entire vignette was truly Shabby Chic!!

More tables to come-so keep fluttering by!

- Thank you to Social Butterflies for their fabulous guest posts on “Meet Mahaffey!”

Meet Mahaffey – "Scarlet Silhouette" February 24, 2010

Vignette #1

The “Meet Mahaffey” open house was a huge success!! The entire night was filled with rave reviews of the event design and decor, food, entertainment, and VIP treatment. If you missed it-lucky for you we are going to blog all about it.

Social Butterflies designed five vignettes to showcase Mahaffey‘s new linens, tables, chairs, glassware, plates, chargers, and napkins. We added lots of special little details (of course!) along with the beautiful florals from Haute Horticulture. The first vignette is called “Scarlet Silhouette.” The inspiration was scarlet red roses and sophisticated black candelabras. We used red chiffon fabric to create a dramatic curtained area for our table scape. A long eight foot table with a custom silk linen that boasted contemporary circles in shade of red and black was the base for our design. Couture Ghost Chairs with red silk pillows added a VIP touch to the table.Two black candelabras held rose ball arrangements along with other shallow glass cylinders of roses, calla lilies and anemones. Our menus were housed in sleek red frames and our place cards in mini black mirror tiled frames. Lots of silver accents and candle holders with black chandelier silhouettes on them were the backdrop to tie in our theme. We used four large red rose balls placed on tall silver candelabras adorned with crystals to anchor the area and all was placed on a shiny black floor.

Scarlet Silhouette is the perfect look for a wedding reception or special event if you want to impress your guests and create a “Hot/Passionate” or Romantic atmosphere. Red lighting sets off the design and takes it up a notch!

Stay tuned for Vignette #2 - Shabby Chic theme!

- Thank you to Social Butterflies for their fabulous guest posts on “Meet Mahaffey!”

2009 Event Trends January 14, 2009

SAVING YOUR BUDGET

Simplicity is Key
This year, think less is more, with smaller, more intimate parties focusing on a few modest décor elements that actually make a statement and mean something to your guests.  Extravagance gives way to thoughtfulness, in everything from weddings to corporate events to fundraisers.
Make your own Music 
Great music is essential to any function, and a well thought-out playlist can be just as good as hiring a DJ for thousands of dollars.  In fact, most DJs play off their own iPods these days anyway, so why waste the money?  Invest in a great sound system instead, and be your own entertainer.

 

GOING GREEN

No More Printing
Mailed invitations and printed marketing collateral are quickly becoming faux pas.  Focus your energy on digital items that can be emailed or handed out on a CD or flash drive at events.  Printing your logo on a flash drive and giving that to your customers is also a great marketing tool!
Eco-Friendly Products
There are a million alternatives to wasteful, hazardous event supplies, from liquid cardboard to compact fluorescent bulbs for lighting and sustainable local food products.  Start using them!
You know the phrase… Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
An old adage but still a goodie, actually now more than ever. Reduce the amount of waste you collect at an event by re-using recycled materials, and recycling new materials to be re-used at your next event.  See how the circle works?