Kisha & Morris 09.06.09 I Hotel

Kisha and Morris held both their ceremony and reception at the I Hotel. Their ceremony was in the smaller Chancellor Ballroom, and their reception was in the larger Illinois Ballroom. They had about 170 guests. We provided the chair covers for their ceremony, and then the I Hotel staff moved the chairs into the other ballroom for the reception so that they could use the covers there as well. She used fall colors…chocolate brown, burnt orange, and yellow.

We did a few burnt orange up-lights behind their altar. They had columns lining the aisle with large floral arrangements done by the U of I floral department.

For their reception, we did more burnt orange lighting around the entire room, and we put their monogram with their date on the wall above the head table. We also provided the DJ service.

They used chocolate brown polyester chair covers and napkins with burnt orange satin sashes and overlays.

The I Hotel provides the centerpieces. They did orange calla lillies going up the center of the vase in water with a floating candle on top. They also placed a few cocktail tables around the dance floor to encourage people to hang out there. The room looked incredible..especially once we dimmed the lights down. It was a great party!

Amie & Kyle 08.29.09 Hilton

Amie and Kyle’s reception was held in the Chief Illiniwek Ballroom at the Hilton in Champaign. They used the entire room for their 220 guests. This is what their guests saw as they walked in the room..

They had their head table in the center of the room with a backdrop behind it and their cake in front of it. We put their monogram on the center of the dance floor. Our DJ equipment was set up to the left of the head table. They also went with color changing up-lighting. We started out with an amber up-lighting to keep it more formal and elegant at the beginning, and then changed the colors for dancing later on in the night. It was a lot of fun!

For their bridal party introduction, they walked in to the U of I war chant and fight song, and we changed the up-lighting to orange.

Their colors were black, ivory, and gold. They went with neutral linens and flowers and chose to get the pop of color from the up-lighting. We did ivory polyester floor-length tablecloths, ivory polyester chair covers, and black satin sashes. Mark Romine did their photography, and I believe English Hedgerow did their centerpieces.

Jennifer & Clint 08.08.09 I Hotel

Jennifer and Clint held their reception for 260 guests at the I Hotel in their biggest ballroom, the Illinois Ballroom. Her colors were black, ivory, and orange. We did an orangish/amber color for the up-lighting with their custom monogram on the wall above the head table. They wanted their date and some decorative designs in their monogram as well. It was definitely the focal point of the room.

This was the first time we used our new stretch covers at the I. We had them custom made for these chairs. She used black covers with ivory stretch bands, ivory polyester tablecloths, and black satin overlays.

Ashlee with the Cake Artist’s Studio did their cupcake table for them. How fun!

Jennifer had us put together a photo montage set to music that they showed on the I’s large video screens that drop out of the ceiling. We provided the DJ services for Jennifer and Clint as well. Everything went very smoothly, and we hope you guys had a great time!

Katie & Justin 08.01.09 I Hotel

Katie and Justin had 125 guests in the Chancellor Ballroom at the I Hotel. This was the first time we had used our satin stripe chair covers at the I Hotel. We had them custom made for Katie to fit the large chairs they use, and we thought they looked awesome in there. Her colors were lavender and lilac, so we used victorian lilac satin sashes. The I provided her centerpieces, and Tammie Lawson and the U of I floral department always do a wonderful job.

They used our color changing up-lighting, so we used amber for dinner to keep it more elegant and bright. Then we switched it to purple for the dancing at the beginning and all different colors later on in the night. For their monogram, they thought it would be fun to use their “Hollywood name.” Justin goes by Jud, so we did one that said “JudKat” with some decorative designs. Everyone loved it.

Amy & Jim 07.18.09 Illini Union

It’s hard to find a reception hall in Champaign that will hold 300 guests, but the downstairs ballroom at the Illini Union has plenty of room. Amy and Jim used the lounge area for the cocktail hour and left the ballroom roped off until they arrived. They used different shades of purple and pink, so we had the up-lights fading between purples and pinks during dinner. Then we switched it to different colors for the dancing later on.

They used our white stretch chair covers to match the Union’s white tablecloths, and the purple satin overlays helped to break up the white. They chose not to use any sashes on the chairs. We like how the U of I venues use 120″ tablecloths. Most venues do not do this, and floor-length tablecloths look much more elegant.

We also provided the white backdrop behind their head table to hide the huge door that was behind it. This provided the perfect placement for their monogram. Their cake was also spotlighted.

Mark Romine was their photographer. He is one of the best photographers in the area, and we love working with him. Thanks for the pictures, Mark!

Kaitlin was their DJ, and she said it was an awesome party. They had a choreographed first dance. It was a lot of fun working with Amy and Jim, and we hope they had a great time on their honeymoon in Hawaii!

Lindsey & Mike 07.04.09 Decatur Conference Center

This was the first time we had done lighting at the Decatur Conference Center, and we thought it looked amazing in there. Lindsey and Mike also had us provide the DJ service, chair covers, video screens, and a backdrop behind their head table with their names on it in light. Her colors were purple and yellow, so we did yellow up-lighting around the room with purple on the columns and in the video screen trussing.

There is maroon drapery all along the stage there, so we cleaned up the head table with a white backdrop.

The staff at the Conference Center said they had never seen the room look so good!

We actually used two video screens, one on each side of the head table, since the room was so large. We put her photo montage together for her and played it after dinner right before their first dance.

 For her chair covers, she chose white polyester with yellow sashes tied in an overlay.

Sarah & Dave 06.20.09 Sullivan

Sarah and Dave had a very elaborate reception that they actually held in his parents’ machine shed at their home in Sullivan. You may remember the lighting we did in the Cole’s County Airport Hangar. That was Dave’s brother’s wedding. So this family is known for extravagant, memorable weddings. Gwen Wilson with Nuptiae was their planner, and Gwen and Sarah did a wonderful job putting everything together. They contacted us for DJing and lighting. Her colors were bright pink and green, so they hung pink and green lanterns from the ceiling and used pink tablecloths. We put their monogram on the wall so everyone would see it right when they walked in.

They had multiple ice sculptures that they used to serve shrimp cocktail on.

Then they also had an ice luge in the tent right outside of the shed that they used to make pink and green martinis. They used the tent for the dancing as well.

 We had all of the up-lights connected together. They wanted pink and green for dinner..

 And then any color for dancing..

They even had a huge fireworks show for their guests!

Noelle & Neil 06.20.09 Keller Center

Noelle and Neil held their black and yellow reception at the Keller Center in Effingham. Neil’s mom had found us at the Bergner’s bridal show in 2008 when her daughter was getting married. We did some lighting for her then, and so she gave us a call as soon as Neil got engaged. They knew they had to have the stretch chair covers and sashes. They also used 90″ black tablecloths and yellow up-lighting.

Here is a before-and-after shot of the room with chair covers and lighting…

 We also provided a white backdrop for behind their head table. We put their names on the backdrop, and then they hung black and white pictures of themselves from the ceiling. They used fishing line to hang them, so it looked like the pictures were floating. We’ve also seen brides hang pictures like this around the entire room before. Really cool idea! Here is a before-and-after of the backdrop and what a difference that makes..

It was great working with you guys, and best of luck to you in your new home!

Karly & Keegan 05.30.09 Refinery

Karly and Keegan used the entire ballroom at the Refinery for their 200 guests. Karly came to us about a year before her wedding to reserve our DJ, lighting, and linen services. This was the first time we got to use our new stretch chair covers. Everyone loved them! She also did floor-length charcoal satin tablecloths and charcoal satin sashes. Her accent color was a bright yellow that she brought out in her centerpieces.

Her cake was also a bright yellow. She placed it in the center of the dance floor so everyone would notice it right when they walked in the room. We also provided a black backdrop for behind her head table to clean up all of the windows and doors behind it.

We also put her monogram on the dance floor in front of the cake so that it made a huge impression right when the guests walked in the doors. It also looked really cool during the dancing later on in the night. We had all of our LED up-lights connected together and changing colors throughout the night. It really added a lot to the party.

Karly did some candy tables. This is a very popular trend right now. She also rented the black leather furniture from the Refinery and put it around the dance floor. Cool idea!

Karly is actually the event coordinator at the Refinery now, and she’s doing an awesome job! They are really revamping their services, and we’re very impressed with the job she and Paris are doing there. As you can tell from the pictures, Karly has a knack for implementing great weddings!

Emily & Eric 05.23.09 I Hotel

Emily and Eric’s wedding was in the Illinois Ballroom at the I Hotel. Emily’s colors were black, white, and red, so she chose black polyester chair covers with red satin sashes. She used the I Hotel’s white polyester tablecloths and had black and white damask runners made for all of the tables. Her centerpieces were red roses that were provided by the I Hotel.

 We also did some red up-lighting all the way around the room with their monogram on the dance floor. They had a really nice cake, so we pinspotted that as well.

Another really popular trend right now is having a photo booth at your reception. Illini Photo Booth provided the one for this wedding. Anyone who wanted to could get into the booth and have their picture taken. The guests received a copy of their pictures, and then the bride and groom received a copy of all of the pictures that were taken throughout the night. Illini Photo Booth can also put custom graphics down the side of each picture strip. Emily and Eric put their names and wedding date on theirs, along with their monogram and squares of damask print.