design minded: Michelle & Ryan Modern Wedding in the Desert + Part 2

Part two of Michelle and Ryan's Memorial Day weekend Celebration begins with the gorgeous, recently renovated ballroom at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort. I was so happy when I heard that the resort was replacing their very Southwest carpeting with a more neutral selection. The gold wall treatments and gold ballroom chairs were incorporated into our overall color scheme, which was originally silver and purple. Gold was easy to add and actually gave warmth and glamor to the room.

The table numbers were a DIY I found on Pinterest. They gave a metallic look without the expense of metal table numbers. Half of the tables were lit with an assortment of white, silver and clear candlesticks, all with white candles (part of our signature collection of rental decor). This also reduced the cost of the florals.

The other half of the tables were graced with the most amazing white tulips. A fresh, clean, modern look, leaning, almost reaching out of each vase. Some were a trio of three different sizes of tall cylinders, others were low, leaning bowls. One of the servers asked me if the flowers were supposed to be like that, or if she should straighten them for us! Don't expect everyone to "get" your vision.

The Sweetheart table created for Michelle and Ryan started with an amazing clear acrylic table from KOOL Party Rentals.

I created an eclectic combination of gold and silver balls, clear stands, white flower petals and purple LED lights. Then, right under the top, lots of crystal jewels, and on top of that, loads of candles in different shapes and sizes and more of those gorgeous parrot tulips. Gold champagne flutes, square silver chargers, pearl napkin rings, their own little platters of mini desserts, and last, but not least, their own little sweetheart cake topped with two large white roses and perched on a mirrored stand.

The Escort Card Table was draped in La Tavola's gorgeous sequined chevron linen. Mirrored trays filled with glass crystals held the sleek, modern escort cards. The floral arrangement was re-purposed from the welcome table at the ceremony and we added shiny silver ball candle holders for a simple elegance and glow on the table.

I decided to use the venues' amazing new tables for the dessert table, modern sleek, grey stone tops and silver trim. This was actually my first dessert table with NO LINENS. I loved it! I used two tall, curvy white vases and one very traditional black vase in the center. The florals we chose for all the guest tables were white tulips, But, when Ivy walked into the ballroom with dozens of white parrot tulips, well my heart was singing! These gorgeous beauties gave such a n exotic feel to the my design for the arrangements. I absolutely love the movement of the tulips throughout the evening, uncontrollable and wildly natural. Just lovely.

Desserts: Mini Peach Cobblers, Lemon Macarons with vanilla butter cream, Espresso Mini Cupcakes, Dark Chocolate Cake Truffles with edible purple Disco dust, Vanilla Bean, Peaches and cream Cake shots, Vanilla and Blackberry Cake Shots, Vanilla Macarons with Blackberry butter cream.

Now, Lets talk about MUSIC. This couple wanted to have fun, and the band delivered loads of it! From the second the guests entered the ballroom until the band reluctantly played their last encore, this party rocked ! The Hamptons Band was amazing, and when they left, they told me that they have never played a wedding that was this much fun. Now, that's quite a compliment for Michelle, Ryan and their guests. It's true though, never have I seen a group of people genuinely have this much fun together.