Ahhh..this lovely wine tasting and networking reception was at the end of a full conference day in Niagara @Trius Winery. The guests enjoyed a tour of the winery, wine tasting, and a lovely 3-course dinner in the wine cellar. It was a very cold night but the atmosphere was warm indeed!
The Fermenting Cellar in the Historic Distillery District is one of my favourite venues in Toronto to design an event. This large, open space is a wonderful venue for those who enjoy a rustic setting. We collaborated with spinradius inc., to plan and design an event for a corporate client, in keeping with the era of the venue. Reclaimed furniture, burlap throw pillows reminiscent of distillery grain sacks, and varied, vintage oil lanterns added a warm, whimsical touch to the Reception area.
This event celebrated sustainability in real estate development and management, in collaboration with HOOPP and TRIA. The building was still under construction during our first site visit, so it was wonderful to watch the evolution. The Reception and Awards for the event were held in the sun-filled lobby of the ONE YORK building which was at the time, completely free of furniture and decor. This gave us an opportunity to create a design that fit the sustainability mandate and showcase the gorgeous design of the lobby itself. These gorgeous, heavy, reclaimed grazing tables were a beautiful fit for our decor design, accented by the vintage, chrome, bar carts for a residential touch, all from our friends @divinefurniturerental. The building has a bike to work program, so it was fitting to include these lovely vintage bicycles from @newsons.ca complete with rustic flower bunches, within the decor design.
Hay!! Reverie was asked by a company based in Calgary to create two Western Themed Lounges for a Conference & Tradeshow held in Toronto. We were extremely fortunate in that they gave us free creative reign to design the Lounges from concept to installation. All vintage – every furniture item, accent piece, and props were carefully selected to convey the theme, including a vintage water pump, gas can, leather saddle, & vintage milk bottles filled with wheat. We had to have a Saloon door (fun!), which was placed at the entrance to the Reception area. The Lounges were installed back-to-back in the centre of the tradeshow floor using these hinged vintage doors as a backdrop. Saloon time!
Loved designing and installing this sponsored VIP Reception Lounge for a Mining Gala Dinner & Awards show. The theme of the evening centred around Mining, so I was thrilled to find these vintage mining lamps! The idea was to create a feeling of rustic elegance and the florals were designed with a ‘walk in the woods’ in mind; composed of etherial, wispy greens, woodsy textures, within crate-like wooden vases, which also included blue thistles – a nod to both the woodsy theme and reflecting the featured logo as well. Created a comfortable atmosphere by mixing this heavy, vintage, rustic-wood furniture with the industrial pieces and balancing them with beautiful, crackled vintage votives rustic florals, and blue-hued uplighting. Guests sank into these comfy, vintage leather sofas and enjoyed networking and catching up with old friends over a drink.
As you might have gathered by now, the travelling involved in managing events onsite has always appealed to the gypsy in me. Headed to Vancouver in the latter part of November to manage a conference, trade show, and Gala Awards dinner for 1500 guests. The event was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre and we had guest-room blocks in all 4 hotels near the Centre, which overlooks the ocean. No complaints! It was a very busy 4 days of installation, management, and tear-down. I spent most of my time backstage and the AV team was very kind to set me up with a road-case desk complete with desk lamp, for managing all the scripts. Most importantly the guests were entertained with an amazing set by Randy Bachman!
Without question, sponsored events are one of my favourite events to design, from concept to installation. Incorporating the sponsor logo into the decor by custom-designing and creating pieces to feature the branding is always a thrill. When the sponsor enters the venue and says ‘I feel like I own the place’, that’s what we like to hear! This was an annual VIP, CEO Dinner for 100 guests at LUMA – TIFF Bell Lightbox sponsored by Bruce Power which preceded a conference and trade show attended by 1500 guests. The dinner was a film-themed occasion so in addition to incorporating the sponsor logo into the decor, we also included vintage film cans, branded table cards, menus, uplighting, gobos, and pin-spots above each table to enhance the lovely features of this venue. We custom-made 3D stands for the clapboards which were utilized as whimsical centrepieces along with the vintage film cans.
Fall 2016 featured a series of events each Friday evening at the Royal Ontario Museum, each with a different theme called ROM: Friday Night Live. I have designed and managed events at the ROM so it was a thrill to attend an event as a guest as well! I was fortunate to attend the Fashion themed installation of the series. The venue was transformed with lighting, projection, and guests were permitted to wander the museum to enjoy the installations, all while enjoying the varied food stations, and custom bars. Not to mention the fact that the live DJ inspired the packed dance floor!
Was thrilled to design and install some decor pieces for a Gala Dinner, which was part of a 4-day Conference and trade show in Toronto. One of the installations was a custom flower-wall which was featured at the entrance to the Reception and was utilized as a step & repeat photo backdrop, as the guests entered the Ballroom. An added benefit to the beauty of the flower-wall was the beautiful scent it emanated throughout the Reception area.
My event work appeals to the gypsy in me, as it often means traveling to varied destinations for onsite design and installations. In September I was fortunate to head to Las Vegas to install and manage a travelling exhibit during MINExpo. We were in Vegas for 2 weeks so we definitely got to know the place and the people well! A corporate event indeed but we were struck by how many attendees approached us with stories of family members in the mining industry, and it was lovely to witness their excitement while they reviewed the content on the monitors featuring their relatives and colleagues. We were also pleased to attend a Reception and Dinner as guests of the National Mining Hall of Fame, which was held in the Ballroom at Caesar’s Palace.
sarasreverie 