here are pics of my wedding venue...need help with decor

[CrownJewel]

Help help help! I love the intimate, historic feeling of my wedding venue (a French restaurant housed in a mansion that J.P. Morgan built for his friend)...but the photos on their website are a little dated and are not inspiring me at all in terms of what to do for decor. We have a very limited budget, so we''d like to work with what is already there. I''m pretty sure we are not allowed to change the window treatments (sage green and rose? Not my favorite combination, but maybe I can work with it). Our contract doesn''t mention renting chairs, but rented linens (tablecloths, napkins, chair covers are a possibility). I don''t really like the look of chair covers, so the only thing I would possibly rent are tablecloths and napkins. But what color?!

My bridesmaids dresses are a knee-length, deep, purple. My dress is ivory. I don''t have centerpieces yet. The overall feel of the wedding will be semi-formal, vintage, French. I don''t like the multi-color centerpieces that most people do at this venue. I think that a monochromatic centerpiece would work best. Again, what color?! The wedding is on a Sunday afternoon, but since the wood makes it is so dark inside, I''d like to incorporate candles into the decor. The other thing I love is the use of fabrics in decor. Specifically flowy fabrics like silk chiffon.

Help me brainstorm s''il vous plait?

Here''s a photo of the reception area inside:

 

[CrownJewel]

Another

 

[CrownJewel]

outside, where the cocktail hour will take place

 

[Gypsy]

Same purple as your BM gowns square overlays on the tables. Solid Ivory accented with lovely greenery centerpieces. Low ones in silver footed containers. Ivory napkins, Silver chargers for the plates. Gold chargers, napkin rings and footed bowls are a possibility too since that chanderlier is brass.

 

[CrownJewel]

another

 

[CrownJewel]

Also outside, where the ceremony will be

 

[Gypsy]

You''re not in the CA bay area are you? Cause that place would be IDEAL for my wedding too. LOL.

 

[CrownJewel]

And I like the idea of flowers accompanying the seating cards. I''m wondering if I can do this myself one or two days before the wedding day. I would order roses or whatever flower, cut the stem short, stick them into wet green floral foam, and place into a little opaque votive holder. Then put them all in the fridge? Any idea if that would work?

I definitely won''t have much time to do much of anything before the ceremony, which starts at 11:30AM. So I''m limited as to how much do-it-yourself I can accomplish.

 

[CrownJewel]

like this:

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 1/16/2008 6:54:31 PM
Author: Gypsy
Same purple as your BM gowns square overlays on the tables. Solid Ivory accented with lovely greenery centerpieces. Low ones in silver footed containers. Ivory napkins, Silver chargers for the plates. Gold chargers, napkin rings and footed bowls are a possibility too since that chanderlier is brass.

Gypsy, I''m loving your vision. I also thought solid ivory floral centerpieces would be beautiful, but they would need a colored tablecloth to help them stand out. Do you think purple tablecloths would go with the green and rose window treatments?

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 1/16/2008 6:56:51 PM
Author: Gypsy
You''re not in the CA bay area are you? Cause that place would be IDEAL for my wedding too. LOL.

Haha Gypsy. I thought you found a place, no?

This venue is in NY.

If you will help me decorate, I would gladly share the space.

 

[Gypsy]

Yes. The rose looks mauvey to me, and coordinates well with purple. And the sage looks great with it too. I think you are just fine!

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 1/16/2008 7:04:25 PM
Author: CrownJewel

Date: 1/16/2008 6:56:51 PM
Author: Gypsy
You''re not in the CA bay area are you? Cause that place would be IDEAL for my wedding too. LOL.

Haha Gypsy. I thought you found a place, no?

This venue is in NY.

If you will help me decorate, I would gladly share the space.

DARN IT. I could do NY you know. LOL. FI is from NJ. But I want Grandpa to attend.

We''ve found one we are relatively happy with. Still investigating a couple of others, so we''ll see. I''ll have a decision first week of February though.

 

[CrownJewel]

Gypsy, the beige tablecloths and napkins are included in our contract. If I want another color, they''d be an extra fee. But I think the beige is rather...blah and I should just go ahead and spend more money (

) on the rental. What do you think? Is there anything we can do with the beige?

 

[CrownJewel]

Date: 1/16/2008 7:06:31 PM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 1/16/2008 7:04:25 PM
Author: CrownJewel

Date: 1/16/2008 6:56:51 PM
Author: Gypsy
You''re not in the CA bay area are you? Cause that place would be IDEAL for my wedding too. LOL.

Haha Gypsy. I thought you found a place, no?

This venue is in NY.

If you will help me decorate, I would gladly share the space.

DARN IT. I could do NY you know. LOL. FI is from NJ. But I want Grandpa to attend.

We''ve found one we are relatively happy with. Still investigating a couple of others, so we''ll see. I''ll have a decision first week of February though.

well, if those don''t work out, come on over.

 

[Gypsy]

Beige is a neutral. And it depends on their definition of beige. Beige can be anything from a dark ivory to a light brown. Do you know which it is? I would still do square overlays. Or just purple tablecloths altogether. Ivory napkins. I''d get qoutes and see what it comes too. If it''s too much. We re-think it. I''ll help ya.

 

[karasue91]

CJ I''m sorry I have nothing to offer, but I just wanted to say that your venue is absolutely gorgeous. I''m so jealous!! Dora will go perfectly with the overall feel of the house. Great choice

 

[CrownJewel]

Aw Karasue, you are too sweet. Thanks for popping in!

 

[ringster]

yeah, the flowers in the pics need to go. i think you need taller flowers or more striking ones to draw your eyes away from the curtains/window treatments. and i think it would help not to use so many colors in your centerpiece flowers/arrangement.

i think it best not to use same colors as the window treaments in your flower centerpiece arrangement. you can work the colors in the window treatments in very small details so that they are more like an accent like a votive here and there in that color or shade of color or have the place cards have accent of the window treatment.

i was thinking of trying this martha stewart idea - it seems affordable and nice looking. you probably don't have to use hydrangea but any bulb (although hydrangeas come in other colors besides blue) - for example callas might look nice

Hyacinth Bulb Centerpiece

 

[surfgirl]

With that room, I''d do floral arrangements in all white/creams, and gold accents with gold votive candles all over the place. Just bombard the place with white flowers and gold votives - like those glass votives with the peely looking goldleaf on them. That seems quite French to me. Are you 100% with the purple BM dresses because if that color is negotiable, you could do more of a champagne color to blend with white/cream/gold? I only say that color palette because it wouldn''t clash with the existing decor and would probably help you achieve a very ''rich'' look?

 

[bee*]

I think that golds and creams would look lovely at that venue, especially with lots of candles. My colours for my wedding are cream, purple and gold so for my own I''m going to have Candelabras on every second table with big candles. This is kind of how ours will be decorated and I''ll probably put some accent purple flowers in the middle of some of the candelabras. On the other tables, I''ll have a tall thin vase with a purple flower in it. Not sure if that''s any help but I think something similar would look nice at your venue.

 

[CrownJewel]

Update: I talked to our photographers (i.e. FI''s brother and sister-in-law) about renting colored tablecloths. They were aware of the darkness of the room, even in daylight, and they actually suggested keeping the white tablecloths that are included in our contract. They said it will help them to bounce off the light in photos. They said we should add color via details such as napkins.

So...originally I wanted to do white/cream flowers on a colored tablecloth...but I guess we need to rethink that.