[today i'm thrilled to welcome emily and the team from once wed to d*s! starting today, they'll be joining us once a month with wedding-inspired entertaining and decor ideas in a new column called "beyond the big day". i love the way that weddings are often the catalyst for beautiful decorating and party ideas, so emily's column will focus on bringing that idea to life. she'll be posting all sorts of design related projects, so stay tuned!]
I’m beyond thrilled to share these gorgeous inspiration photos from Jen Curtis with everyone today. Although this look was created for a wedding, it can easily be carried over into a dinner party or even used as decoration in your home like the fireplace mantel idea above. The lovely Gloria from Gloria Wong Design was kind enough to give us a look into the idea behind this shoot…
For this particular project, I decided to use my very own favorite childhood toy as inspiration. The spirograph brought me endless amounts of joy and wonderment as a kid. I remember spending hours and hours rotating those little plastic plates and watching shapes come alive on paper!
The shapes that a spirograph creates are inherently symmetrical and modern. So, for this mock table, I decided to go for an “Urban Modern Crafty” vibe in a loft-like venue with bare white walls. I chose fuschia pink, gravel grey and light cement grey because the combination of those colors fit the flavor… and because I’m in love with those colors at the moment! I used a streamlined wooden table, no curves, no fluff and layered on clean white plates. For the rest of the fun, I enlisted the most talented team of vendors.
CLICK HERE for the rest of the post after the jump!
The amazing Lisa Wong Jackson of Good On Paper designed all the different styles of spirograph shapes that were materialized in the form of laser cutouts, rubber stamps, and a spirograph garland that hung above the dinner table. For menus, Lisa had chipboards screenprinted. We opted for screenprint over offset printing or letterpress because we felt that the method lent itself to the artsy-crafty tone of this wedding.
Then, there was Anne Millett of Mira Aster, a sewing genius. For the white canvas table runner and napkins, Anne used fuschia and grey threads and sewed free form lines around the edges. We rubber stamped spirograph shapes onto the runner, and we stamped guests’ names onto each napkin. The napkins doubled as place cards. The combination of the DIY rubber stamp job coupled with Anne’s stitching was super cool!
Last but certainly not least was the brilliant Nancy Liu Chin, floral extraordinaire. For this tablescape, Nancy knew that simplicity and restraint were key. She chose fuschia pink dahlias because the anatomy of the dahlia actually resembles a shape that can be created from a spirograph! She also suggested bare walnut branches from which we hung mini spirograph laser cutouts.
Spirograph shapes and all of their intricacies provided much of the inspiration for all the other decor elements. The fabric pleats on the floral vessels were derived from the repetition of lines and curves when using a spirograph. Same goes for the paper pleated wheels (often referred to as paper rosettes) that danced above and across the dinner table. It’s so fun to think how all the different components of this tablescape can be traced back to that one question “What was your favorite childhood toy?”
Photography by Jen Curtis
