Alesia Zorn Calligraphy

Garden Vineyard Room - Bravo! Wedding Affair Nov. '09

Oooh!  I've got a disc FULL of gorgeous pictures of the Bravo! Wedding Affair from last month.  The disc generously comes from Paul Rich Studio.

A little while ago, I cross posted to a blog entry from Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination.  They, along with Helene of East West Floral Arts came up with the design for their Garden Vineyard room.  How beautiful is this?!

I'll always remember walking around looking at all the eye candy - and wondering "why do I smell grapes?"  This would be why - and that's up on the ceiling, my friend!  So pretty!  This was early in the day, there's a suspended candle in there, really lovely when they're all lit up.

   

My contribution to the room was a chalk board listing the vendors.  This is such a great eco-friendly way to get information out.  I rent out the chalk board and write whatever you'd like - a list of vendors, or a menu, program, meeting agenda - then the board comes back home and all the lettering comes off and the board waits to head out to its next party!

Thanks again to Paul for the pictures and Mandy & Rachelle of Champagne Weddings & Events for asking me to contribute to their room!

When I say "Anything you can dream up..."

...I really mean it!  I'm doing chalkboard menus for a wedding this weekend.  I wish I'd been clever enough to think of this, but I give total props to the bride, it was her idea.  Besides large menu chalkboards, she wanted to have signature cocktail chalkboards on the bar... but not just any chalkboards - rebus puzzles!!

 

 

The answers:

Jack and Cola (there is that trademark issue ;-)

lemon, raspberry and gin

beer or wine

I had to scan and send this now because I'm so excited about her clever idea.  I'm hoping the photographer will take detail shots of the menu boards.  Yes, boardS - one for apps & dinner and one for a dessert menu that will make you weep!

Calligraphy Going Green & Going Green is Delicious!

I've discussed in other posts what a killer working on menus is - the difficulty isn't the work itself, it's being so focused on the food!  Every once in a great while I get to work on a menu for an event I actually get to attend - this is one of those stories!

This month, our ISES (International Special Events Society) local chapter held our meeting at the gorgeous LEEDS certified Buchan Reception Hall at The First Unitarian Church.  The food was beyond incredible - big thanks to Mark Lopez from Crave Catering (appetizer), Max Popejoy from Celebrate Catering (salad), Grace Pae from Artemis Foods (entrée) and Rob Leon from Phresh Organic Catering (dessert).  Our meeting host Mathew Weber of A Swank Affair was very fun.

For this meeting I provided the name tags and programs.  The name tags and program covers were printed on 100% recycled paper (70% mill pulp, 30% post consumer waste -aka pcw).  The pages of the program were printed on 100% pcw recycled paper.  The programs were tied with hemp twine that I waxed prior to sewing (eco friendly and smells deeeevine.)

For the name tags I tried to feature several eco-friendly mediums - walnut ink, which is either made from walnuts or, the one I use, is made from peat (you know, composting plant life); sumi ink and lapis lazuli paint. 

Big thanks to Dwayne Thomas, president of Hollywood Lighting for this photo as I foolishly forgot my camera. 

Photos from the February Bravo Show

Last night my e-mail box was blessed with photos from the February Bravo show.  I wanted to immediately get them on the blog but knew I was too tired and too excited (think a 5-year old past bedtime) to make any sense.

After a good night's sleep I'm not tired but still excited so I'll try to make sense of it all.  The Bravo Wedding Affair is held in a hotel, each ballroom and pre-function room is assigned to a wedding planner who works with the vendors assigned to their room to decorate it according to their theme.  This is when the planners get to cut loose and bring their vision to reality.  It's always so much fun to help out, they're so creative and come up with the greatest things.

For the February show, Cindy Rosen of Encore Events hit me with some fantastic and fun ideas for her Oregon Vineyard theme (for those not from around here and not familiar, Oregon puts out some fantastic wines.  Oregon Pinot Noir has often kicked even French Pinot patootie in taste tests.  Oregon represent!)  OK, I'm admittedly not a devoted vinophile, I'm obviously a tad proud of my state ;-) so it was even more fun to work with Cindy & her great theme.

First up, the place cards...

These little wine glasses held tea lights to act as the place cards AND a light source.  The lettering on these glasses is removable, so they're eco-friendly (hello! we're in Oregon).  For a real wedding it would by easy-peasy to make the lettering permanent and this would also act as a favor.  Multi-tasking at it's finest - place card, light and favor

Next up, the signature cocktail from Premiere Catering...

     

I'm never happy when scheduling conflicts mean I miss the Bravo shows, and this time I was even more unhappy when I found out Premiere would be one of the vendors in Cindy's room.  They always do a spectacular job!  I did an eco-friendly chalkboard to compliment the room's colors of eggplant, sage, copper and all things vineyardy.

And now - cake signage.  I think the toughest thing about being a calligrapher is doing menus - me want CAKE!

   

Of course the purpose of the photo is for me to wow you with my calligraphy and don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my work but ... c'mon...read about that cake - how awesome (it is 9am and I haven't had breakfast, can you tell?)

I've saved the best for last - the "guest book." 

This was Cindy's idea and I'm thrilled she asked me to bring it to life...  signing a giant wine bottle. It would be fun to say Cindy & I drank the whole thing because artists must suffer for their art, but it's not true.  She received it from a rental company who grabbed it at an event.  Again with an eco-friendly chalkboard, completely reusable.

Many thanks to Nataliya Sostin Photography www.sostinweddings.com for the lovely photos. A big shout-out to Kevan Inouye who provided the gorgeous and luscious floral of which you've only seen teasing hints.

Earth's Best Friend

Once upon a time I worked at a radio station in South Carolina and "The Earth's Best Friend" was one of the positioning statements.  It was in the early '90s and we really tried to walk the talk.  It's a message that hit a nerve, and never more so than when I moved to environmentally-friendly Oregon.

I'm always investigating ways to bring being The Earth's Best Friend into the wedding and event world.  What can we do to reduce waste?  The Fates sent Molli of Soiree to me - she was approached by a local TV station to do a segment on green weddings and our phone conversation started with "Can you write on an apple?"  (I love phone conversations with Molli because the question "Can you write on ____?" is usually in there.  If you've read anything in my blog you know that blank is filled in with cool stuff.)

Well, I'd never written on an apple, but I knew it could be done - surely.  Voila!  An ecofriendly table number.  Also featured in the segment were a candle table number and a tabletop chalkboard menu... what unusual items would you like to see as part of your wedding or table decor?  Ask Molli, I love the unusual!

     Photos courtesy of my friend David at davidbarssphotographer.com

Eco-friendly Table Decoration

  I'm always up for a challenge.  You know, the good, creative kind, not the crazy-making bad kind.  One of those challenges I love is elegant table decoration in an eco-friendly way.

 

This monogram is removable!  It's painted on with an ink that will clean off with a vinegar-based glass cleaner.

The vase is 2-1/2 feet tall and comes from Barclay Event Rentals.  At that great height I can easily see this being a table number as well.  The removable ink comes in a myriad of colors, it's so easy to match your decor!

Photo from Powers Studios.