Walking among the permanent exhibits, flower displays that interpreted the art were displayed – some filled the space with their scent, and some were so incredibly complimentary that I wondered how many hours were spent just in thought before the blooms were bought and assembled.

I noticed some of my vendor friends – Muscari, La Tulipe, The Flower Lady and Urban Sense, to name a few – had their pieces on display with huge success.  I think it was one of the only times some of those Old Masters got photographed without a security guard stealing your camera.  It was a beautiful, fabulous event, with just the right amount of extravagance!  Bravo!

Plus, with our unique Shakespearean theme, we got a boatload of great press from onmilwaukee.com and TMJ4.  Romeo and Juliet wandered around in costume with their entourage, and brides took photographs of our table layouts to replicate for their own wedding.  We had amazing dancers who performed to “All the Right Moves” by One Republic instead of doing a usual fashion show.  Masks, feathers and sequins were worn by dancers, models, and serving staff alike.  You need to make these things new and festive!

The food…where do I start?  Oysters, lobster, filet mignon, mini bloody Mary’s, salad on a fork, and risotto…and that doesn’t even count the cake.  It was definitely a good time to be had by all who came!  Hope to see you there next year!!

All photography below is provided by the Artist Group Photography.  Love it!

For those who want to go with either an earthy pizzazz, or a modern shock, using branches can be an inexpensive and fabulous way to bring in volume.  Whether it’s heavy branches spray painted in hot metallic shades or natural and unvarnished, you can do this minimally or as a main element in your decor.

Using vegetables or fruit is also rather inexpensive, and a very green and simple way to pay homage to spring or fall bounty.  Outdoor weddings are perfect places for produce.

You can never go wrong with candles – especially grouped together.  A splash of color can be brought in easy with a few blooms.

And of course, there’s the feather centerpieces – fabulous if you’re zoning the 1920’s or want to do something a little different – in which case, consider using great colored plumes or lights to do something a little different.  This is a wonderful option if you’ve picked colors that are difficult to find in nature, such as blue.

It’s still trendy to use crystals as part of your design, but what about really bringing in the bling?  The recent Oscars really used these dripping jewels, so why not bring in some glamour by using ropes and ropes of crystals in unexpected places. Plus, they go with any color scheme!

You can rent the Birch Branches, and Flowers-by-Design came up with some of the great veggie centerpieces – the rest are courtesy of Martha Stewart.  You can buy the white feather centerpieces at Wholesale Event Solutions, and the Crystal Trees can be viewed on theknot.com.