Anacortes Rotary Club’s fundraiser drew more than 200 people for a dinner, auction and aerialist performance in an airplane hangar.
› See Cirque du Vin Fundraiser gallery
Calliope Circus Arts of Bellingham performed a portion of their act under a 40′ x 60′ floating liner.
Check out photos from PeaceHealth foundation’s elegant gala in Bellingham earlier this year. The event raised $250,000 to support medical services and facility upgrades.
The event for more than 400 guests was held in a 60′ x 150′ pole-style tent with halo lights on the center poles.
Q: Where’s the balance between blah and overdone when it comes to table decor?
A: That age-old battle of form vs. function comes into play on this one. Since most people we work with seem more concerned with function than form, we take that stance as well.
Our philosophy is that you hit the mark when the table design dovetails with the rest of the event. We’re blessed with such an abundance of breathtaking rural venues in this area. Some of the best table designs we’ve seen have played a supporting role to the event’s setting, either complementing the site with linens of blue and green or contrasting with violets and cherry red.
Kayla Lynn Photography just shared photos — including the one above — with us from a recent event for which we provided red and white check tablecloths (check back for an wedding gallery next week!). It was a humble decor choice, but the result was terrific: an all-American summer feel that complemented the couple’s reception, where they served fruit in carved watermelon baskets, jars of cookies and glass bottles of root beer. It was simple and appropriate, and to us that’s a well-designed tablescape.
Stay away from precarious towers of candles and baubles. It’s a hopeless situation for people who talk with their hands, and really, no guests can have a relaxed conversation with lit tapers tottering between them.
One way we’ve found to keep tablescapes from feeling cluttered is to keep the decorations below guests’ eating and talking spaces (or, alternately, above them).
Use beautiful linens and chargers layered under the dinnerware or on the chairs. Similarly, keep floral arrangements and favors low, or at least in scale with the table, to avoid crowding guests. Short vases stuffed with monochromatic flowers like mums work well with a modern, urban style, while keeping the scale intimate.
Photo by Kayla Lynn Photography
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Q: What are some tips for designing on a modest budget?
A: On a budget? Use color!
Just like fresh paint on your walls at home, inexpensive shots of color — in napkins, say — have a big impact on the event space. We recommend using napkins for color because they’re versatile and relatively low-cost, even in specialty fabrics like satin and crush, and everyone needs them anyway.
Even if you serve dinner buffet-style to save money, and the dishes and flatware will be stacked on the buffet tables, we suggest setting out colored napkins at each of your guests’ places. It doesn’t cost anything more, just a few minutes’ time, and you get this rhythm of color swatches down the length of the table that’s striking (see photo above).
One of our brides last summer did this with orange napkins, and she picked up the hue with big red, orange and yellow pom-poms in the ceiling of the tent. The bursts of fiery color seemed to bounce around the white reception space, from table to tent. She got a big impact from a small investment.
Universally, the key to staying within a budget is multitasking equipment. Everything on the table — favors, menus, place cards, linens and napkins, even donation envelopes at a charity gala — can be tapped as a decor item.
Photo by Evantide Photography
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Congratulations to Ferndale Boys & Girls Club, who beat their fundraising goal of $200,000 at their auction last weekend!
Check out KVOS’s video showing footage of the event in our big white tent and interviews with key sponsors.
See photos of past Boys & Girls Club events: