Guest Blogger: Neil Adams of Blueprint Studio Collection

I am really excited to feature our first guest blogger--Neil Adams of Blueprint Studio Collection. Neil is currently the President of ISES (San Francisco Chapter) so he's definitely 'in the know' when it comes to the wedding industry. The company that he represents, Blueprint Studio Collection, is also a leader for furniture rental and I have had the pleasure of working with them on many beautiful weddings. Today, Neil going to give our readers some tips on using furniture items to create special spaces at your wedding. Thank you Neil!

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First off, a huge thank you to Jubilee for asking me to contribute to her blog. I've been fortunate enough to work with Jubilee several times over the years, and she's top notch in my book! (She didn't pay me to say that.) The topic she asked me to blog about is creating lounge settings for your wedding, which believe it or not, is becoming even more popular than ever.

Lounge furniture has become a fundamental rental element in a majority of today's wedding receptions. It offers your guests alternative gathering and seating environments throughout the duration of your celebration. Furnishings are normally paired in groupings using a base amount of elements in a wide variety of styles and colors. For example, a basic lounge grouping consists of a sofa, coffee table, lounge chairs and/or ottomans and an area carpet. Seating between six to eight people per cluster, these furnishings will allow your guests to congregate in a less formal environment following a traditional seated meal and/or during dancing. Multiple furniture clusters are an ideal option for receptions with multiple food stations and cocktail style seating.

After you have an idea of how much furniture you'll need, you'll want to incorporate your design elements into your lounge environment (this is the really fun part). Some venues give you more of a "blank canvas" than others when it comes to design. It's your vision that we want to help you execute, and lounge furnishings can certainly be an extension of that. Whether it's a slick modern lounge, something more traditional, or an outdoor area, your lounge environment should reflect the experience you want to create and that you want your guests to enjoy. You have the choice to make it look the way you want it to look - you don't have to settle for the venue's existing furniture - make it special!

If you want to stir things up, you can create a fun bar and/or go with non-traditional dinner seating. Alternatives to linens and chiavari chairs are available, which is not only a way to incorporate different designs into your celebration, but also allow you to be "greener" and more eco-friendly without losing style. For example, banquettes are a way to create different dinner seating for your guests, and tables that don't require linens can still provide you with a beautiful dining experience. In fact, we did an event with Jubilee, where we incorporated the Bride and Groom's Monogram onto their cake table. Personalized stamps like that can also be tastefully incorporated into your bars, dining tables, and or lounges.

Incorporating your colors into your lounge designs is easy to do. If you have a certain color that you love - say fuschia, for example - it might be difficult to find a collection of sofas and chairs in that shade. That's why most people choose white furniture for their lounges, because white absorbs your lighting design color the best. Adding accent pillows that are your wedding colors give the lounges the extra pop that bring your vision together. Bars can also be illuminated in your colors, which will make even more complete your celebration's design.

Lastly, if you've always had a dream of having a special cake table, or bar, escort card display, etc. at your celebration - you can have that. We've built all these pieces for couples in the past, and while they're not items you might find in normal rental inventories - it never hurts to ask, "can we get this?" Jubilee knows where to go to get you the special element that will set your wedding apart from everyone else's. It's your day, and everyone wants you to have all the comfort, beauty, fun and enjoyment you deserve. Cheers!

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