Elegant Banquet Decorations
Elegant decorations should set an unexpected and memorable theme for a banquet, whether it is a wedding reception or family reunion. Decor that is elegant will provide key photograph opportunities and encourage guests to mingle and enjoy themselves. A decor that is strong and unexpected will likely influence all other banquet choices, from your menu to the invitations.
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Graceful Tenting
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Tenting provides an elegant backdrop for weddings and other functions.
wedding cakes 1 image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
Tenting is a classic way to make an elegant transformation. A catering or party planning service can help hosts work with the banquet hall or reception room provider to hang fabric over the heads of guests. Tenting, however, is easily done as a do-it-yourself activity if the venue gives permission to the banquet hosts to anchor a few hooks securely into the walls.
Tenting begins by visualizing fabric hanging long-wise in the reception room. Two hooks are anchored into the wall near the ceiling on one side of the room. The hooks are placed in the center of the ceiling, spaced 2 feet apart from each other. Another pair of ceiling hooks are anchored in the same position on the opposite wall. Parallel to these hooks, four more hooks are anchored near the corners of the room, about 8 feet off the floor. The room is ready to tent when strong ropes or cable material is hung from the hooks to form four parallel cables extending from one end of the room to the other.
It's easy to determine the length of the fabric panels needed for tenting. Included are the 8-foot length on each side of the room (or longer if the hosts want the fabric to glamorously "pool" on the floor), the 2-foot length in the center of the ceiling and the two lengths between the top and side cables. Allowing for extra length between the cables will provide enough fabric to create a dip or swag effect.
The ideal banquet tenting fabric is inexpensive and lightweight, such as a plain white cotton percale or shimmering organza. To plan on enough fabric to tent the room, hosts should drape a series of fabric panels with generous spaces between them for airflow and light. If panels extend over passage or service doors, tie-back rods will gracefully pull the panels back like draperies. Rented uplights shining on the fabric panels will provide the final elegant touch.
Parachute Tenting
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Billowy parachute nylon is ideal for tenting smaller rooms.
parachute image by sylvie BRELOT-FORMENTO from Fotolia.com
If a banquet is held in a smaller, more intimate room, the room can be tented with a plain white or striped nylon parachute. This billowy fabric is available at many rental centers.
The parachute can be hung from a hook in the center of the ceiling with a short length of rope or cable tied around a small tuft of fabric in the center of the parachute. The fabric swags or drapes to the four corners of the room, and the same fabric tie-back system used on the ceiling will secure the fabric to the room's corners. The excess material drapes down the walls. If it obstructs key doorways, the nylon can be lifted and tied back. Uplighting adds drama to the silky fabric.
Alternating Tables
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Alternating colors adds dramatic punch to banquet decor.
valentine's day image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
Most banquets feature the usual cookie-cutter clusters of tables, each matching one another. Hosts can escape from the norm and alternate square and round tables around the banquet room. The rhythm of two differently shaped tables breaks up the visual boredom.
Banquet hosts can carry the alternating table shapes a step further and alternate tabletop decorations. Round tables might feature black tablecloths and white napkins; square tables might feature white tablecloths and black napkins. Hosts should select coordinating colors to set the right mood for the event, tie in with the season and provide a rich layer of visuals to the banquet room. The alternating color scheme will set a decorating theme for choosing the right china, table centerpiece, name cards and other tabletop decor.
Theatrical Centerpieces
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Unusual centerpieces make banquets more memorable.
coupe de fruit image by iMAGINE from Fotolia.com
When it comes to wedding and other banquet centerpieces, theatrical pieces make memorable first and lasting impressions. Party planner and author Kimberly Schlegal Whitman, interviewed for a Designs by Gollum article, advised, "Every table needs something that will delight the eye's (sic) of the diners and create conversation." She also encouraged outside-of-the-box thinking by banquet hosts and planners. Whitman used unexpected elements such driftwood and antique birdcages in her favorite tablescapes.
Local Resources
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Banquet centerpieces can include the unexpected, such as a live fish.
goldfish image by mashe from Fotolia.com
Manhattan, New York, interior designer Irwin Weiner likes to go over the top when helping his clients plan wedding tables. "I like to rent out items like large, overscale fish bowls to cluster on each table. Some bowls will have fish swimming around inside. Others will have flowers, while others sport floating candles." Weiner also likes to see what he can find in local stores. "Once I discovered large crystals from a gemologist, and I was able to rent some of his biggest specimens. We clustered flowers around the base of the crystals and each had dramatic illumination from votive candles. The guests couldn't stop talking about them." That's the desired effect hosts want to achieve with their elegant banquet decorations.
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- Photo Credit sweet memories image by Ivanna Buldakova from Fotolia.com wedding cakes 1 image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com parachute image by sylvie BRELOT-FORMENTO from Fotolia.com valentine's day image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com coupe de fruit image by iMAGINE from Fotolia.com goldfish image by mashe from Fotolia.com
