Cool Tones

Debra and Mitchell held their reception on the Library's rooftop terrace on a Sunday evening in mid-July. From the beginning, Debra knew two things about her wedding: 1) she wanted to feature a lounge area at her reception, and 2) she planned to use a mix of cool tones for her wedding colors. Choosing a color scheme for your wedding is an easy way to unify all the elements, and to make a big impact with your decorations. When picking colors for a wedding at the library, many people use the apple green from our chair cushions and patio umbrellas; the magenta, orange, or yellow in our stain glass windows are also frequently chosen. For winter weddings, brown and burgundy are stunning in the Margaret Rivers Room (our indoor space for weddings).

Since the colors in our windows, and the brick of the terrace are predominately warm colors, Debra rented linens like the gray satin contemporary print, and the blue twill pictured above. This provided larger displays of cool colors, and made Debra's color scheme front and center. She also got a bit of unexpected help from the artwork currently displayed in our gallery. Mary Jo Van Dell is exhibiting North Light: Paintings at Stillwater Public Library until the end of August 2010. The works all feature names such as Gray Ghost, Teal Waters, and Blue Mist. All repeated the colors Debra had already chosen to use for her wedding.

The cold front moving through the Metro area on Sunday night also contributed a spectacular ceiling for Debra & Mitchell's wedding. The photo of the sky in the ABY Events banner at the top of the page is a picture from Sunday evening. SPECTACULAR!

On the terrace a mix of our black iron patio tables, gray-covered 60" rounds with black chiavari chairs, and blue-covered high top tables were used. Blue and periwinkle hydrangeas were set on the tables with seating, and solar lamps from IKEA were used on the high toppers. Silver and gray pillows were added to the Library's black benches, and provided comfort for guests as they conversed after dinner. The event was catered by Three Sons Signature Cuisine. Food was planned for outside, but due to rain showers at the time of set-up, the food was moved into our cafe area, and broken down into stations. A vegetable basket, grilled vegetables, and a gourmet hamburger bar provided a huge array of options for mixing and matching meat and veggies on artisan breads. The cupcakes below were from Florence Wright at Fleur de Lis Cupcakes. The top of the display is a small cake for Debra and Mitchell to share, or save for their first anniversary. The rest of the cupcakes (300, for a wedding of 130 guests) vanished in a matter of 20 minutes, before guests had even completed dinner. I managed to grab a sample before they all disappeared (I tried one of the chocolate cupcakes; third teir from the top, on the right side). The frosting was coffee flavored, and delicious. I think Florence's business is going places.

Debra and Mitchell's ceremony was held at Trellis, and they arrived at the Library via a vintage gray convertible. The pomanders, or kissing balls that decorated the aisle at the ceremony, were brought to the library and tied along the railing.

Debra's lounge experienced a few difficulties. She purchased a large red velvet couch from a vintage furniture dealer who held the furniture until the wedding date in a storage barn. The barn was home to several stray cats, and the couch was soiled and unusable by the time it was picked up. Luckily, all the other pieces she purchased survived. Due to the chance of rain, the lounge was set-up in the Margaret Rivers Room. This worked out well, because in addition to the cool color tones, singer Katie Gearty provided some cool tones of her own.

If you want to see Katie you can check her out here on youtube, and here. She's incredible, right? I'm planning a party of my own right now, and she would be my top choice for entertainment.

The plush bar pictured below is from Apres. The gray velvet front and mirrored top were chic, and added to the cool, lounge atmosphere.

All in all, this was a chill evening. There was no grand march or schedule to stick to. The dinner stations allowed dinner to be obtained at will, and guests could laze and watch the band, dance, or converse on the patio while the bride and groom circulated among them. All in all, this was a chill evening.