That was a LOOOONG weekend
January 22, 2012
We just wrapped up a very long weekend event, an auction for St. Chrysostom's Day School in Chicago. W provided audio and video, in addition to lighting and decor for the event. Load in took place on Thursday, with a few finishing touches on Friday and Saturday. Then Sunday we took it all down. Mosst big events like this are in places like the school gym, a banquet hall, etc. This one took place at the Racquet Club of Chicago, which was never designed to host events of this nature. All our equipment (and everything else) went through a revolving door, up a manually operated elevator, and then up a ramp onto the tennis court. Normally, we'd make a page to show all the different events we do at a venue, but we thought we'd just do some before and after photos.
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Working under the Stars, sort of
September 11, 2011
Labor Day weekend was extremely busy for us. We had numerous events in the city and suburbs. One of Sunday's events was at the Adler Planetarium. This venue presents several challenges for weddings, because the room is open to the public until 3:00 PM. So getting set up means a small window to "flip" the room. But with Susan Lazar (847-494-8888) coordinating, there's never a worry. In fact, the ceremony and reception were both held in the same room, meaning we had to turn the room over twice. Take a look at the photos provided by florist Richard Remiard on our Adler Planetarium page.
Tags:
adler planetarium, richar remiard, susan lazar
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Goodnight, Irene!
September 1, 2011
This last weekend was quite extraordinary. And in the most unusual way you can imagine. Most of the east coast was suffering through hurricane Irene, getting pounded, flooded, made homeless. We felt the swirling effects of it, although not nearly as bad. We were out at Promentory Point on Lake Michigan. It's a small building less than 100 feet from the lake, with great views of the skyline and the lake. On a clear day you can probably even see into Michigan. Anyway, we strung lights across the east patio, to create a faux roof. During set-up the wind was blowing pretty heavily from the north. We were concerned how well things would survive. Would we return at the end of the evening to find the patio in shambles. After set-up chatted with the dj, Monestero Entertainment. The wind was knocking everything around. It was a long night worrying about whether the event would be swept away. We were quite pleased when we returned and everything was still standing. The patio was wet with spray from the lake, and the winds hadn't lett up, but we were still there. Here's a few pictures from the event. Promontory Point.
Tags:
lake michigan, promontory point, string lights
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Wedding In The Sky
August 28, 2011
Recently we lit a wedding at the Mid-America Club. One of the more breathtaking features of this venue is the view. The Mid-America Club is 80 floors above Millennium Park, and the view is as breathtaking as you can imagine. Take a look at our page of pictures. The bride and groom divided the room and held their ceremony, with florals provided by Anthony Gowder Designs. After the ceremony, the two sections of the room were combined and re-set, while the guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d' ouevre in a nearby room. Event coordination and planning were provided by the fabulous Melissa Phillips. We provided pinspots to highlight the centerpieces, and uplights to frame and re-color the walls.
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melissa phillps, mid-america club
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Love The Drake, And the Galleria
July 25, 2011
We had a couple events at the Drake Hotel recently. Friday we were at the Grand Ballroom at the Drake. This ballroom isn't their biggest, but it was perfect for the 80-person wedding ceremony and reception. Planned in just under two months, planner extraordinaire Melissa Phillips created an elegant, yet intimate, event. The flowers and altar were provided by Richard Remiard Event Design and they did a fabulous job. We focused centerpiece lights from the balcony to highlight the tall centerpieces, and to light the wedding cake on the dance floor.
Saturday morning we returned to The Palm Court the famous dining room at the Drake. Since this room is typically open to the public,the bride and groom asked us to drape the entrance. We used a sheer fabric that complimented the rest of the room, gave the wedding party the privacy they desired, and yet allowed light from the lobby to filter through.
Photos of both events can be found at our page The Drake Hotel.
We were also at Galleria Marchetti that Friday, providing paper lanterns over the dance floor. You can see the photos from numerous events we've lit there at our Galleria Marchetti page.
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Marriott - O'Hare, Fourth of July
July 25, 2011
We lit a wedding at the Marriott Hotel - O'Hare over the 4th of July weekend. The bride chose a spring-like color scheme of light greens, oranges, etc. and it really fit the room. They had centerpieces made with paper lanterns, which really fit well with the rest of the decor. We provided uplights around the room. We added a few extra to fill out the room a little better. Unfortunately, I don't know who they chose for their florist, or if they were DIY, but we thought the centerpieces were really unique. The band, Hey Jimmy, kept the dance floor rolling all night and no one wanted to go home at the end. You can find out more about Hey Jimmy at their website,
http:.//www.heyjimmyband.com For a few photos, visit our page at
http://www.chicagolightingdesign.com/MarriottOhare.html
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centerpieces, hey jimmy, marriott, uplights
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Memorial Day Weekend
June 2, 2011
The weekend is finally over for us. We're just getting caught up, uploading photos, etc.
Saturday saw a beautiful wedding at the Ivy Room @ Tree Studios in Chicago. This vintage venue next to the old Medinah Temple (now part of Bloomingdales) has an outdoor garden, perfect for ceremonies, etc. The happy couple weren't able to utilize it due to the weather, but their wedding day still went off without a hitch. You can see some photos at http://www.chicagolightingdesign.com/ivyroom.html
Sunday we installed some simple string lighting over the dance floor at one of our favorite venues. You can find a few photos scattered in at Galleria Marchetti
Monday we celebrated the holiday, along with my daughter's 21st birthday. She's in college and works part-time for us as an event designer.
Tags:
galleria marchetti, gobo, ivy room, string lights
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More new changes
May 18, 2011
Our new "starry night LED curtain" is finally shipping! Should be here in a few days. We're very excited about this product. Once it arrives, we'll set it up in the shop and take some video to give you a better idea of what it can do. Suffice it to say that there's nothing else like it even at twice the price. Watch for a special sale featuring this new item! 
And speaking of our shop, we're moving to a new space next month. We'll have more square footage, a higher ceiling (allowing us to set up and demonstrate things we couldn't do in our current location) and it even has an office.
Tags:
led curtain
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New products coming soon
April 3, 2011
We're always trying to bring new products and ideas for your wedding. Soon, we'll have a very exciting product that hasn't been available in a while.
Years ago, there were fiber optic curtains that were used to create dramatic backdrops. They created a starry backdrop with different colored twinkling lights. They looked wonderful when they were well maintained. The problem was, they were fragile and expensive to set up. We've found a new product that eliminates those shortcomings through new technology.
We'll be announcing our new product soon with a special sale, and we hope to have a manufacturer's video of it before it arrives.
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Eleven Eleven Wedding
March 17, 2011
Some of you may remember our participation in the 11/11 wedding last year. A group of wedding professionals, led by wedding planner extraordinaire Heather Vickery of Greatest Expectations http://www.greatestexpectations.com/ organized a wedding for a deserving couple.
Well, we're doing it again. If you'd like to enter for the 2011 wedding, please visit http://elevenelevenwedding.com/ and fill out the application. This year's event will be at the Chicago History Museum.
Tags:
chicago history museum, eleven, wedding giveaway
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