How Clover Approaches Event Design

I remember when I first started to help plan special events, it was a challenge to imagine how a seemingly unpolished, raw, warehouse space would be transformed into a warm and inviting reception venue. How were the design teams able to transform an empty warehouse into a warm living room complete with lounge vignettes with soft luxurious velvet, and accents of gold that seemed to reflect the candlelight and exposed brick in such a way that you could only sigh as you walked into the space?

We are so incredibly lucky to live in a city that has so many talented designers, a/v technicians, paperies, photographers, videographers and rental vendors that we often find ourselves in lucky position to help our clients compile a team of vendors who have similar aesthetics and approaches to their events, and produce and capture a seamless design from beginning to end. 

Inspiration

As we start the design process with our clients, it can be challenging for some to translate their style into pictures and concepts that they would like to bring to life for their wedding or event.  What we find most helpful is prompting our clients with a few thought-provoking questions and then have them spend a little time on Pinterest to see if they can find some inspiration images that help them further translate their answers. 

While Pinterest can sometimes be a slippery slope (read: sometimes the one moment in time captured in 2-dimensions is not always possible to recreate in 3D with elements) it can serve to be a great initial ground to work from.

One there are some initial inspirations to work from, we can step in and help translate that idea into a more concrete concept and put it into terms that our vendors will easily understand. For events, the sky is always the limit, if we want 1920s gold and crystal chandeliers suspended in clusters around the dining tables, we can make that happen, however part of our inspiration conversation is also navigating where we can focus our budget to make the biggest impact, and also identifying what is most important to the clients and their guest’s experience. 

Sourcing the Correct Vendor Team

Once we have our key design elements solidified, we can start the process of matching the right vendor team to the design. Typically after our initial conversation, it will be pretty clear which décor vendors will be suited to create a look. Some designers are incredible at capturing the effortless, organic compositions of design, while others excel at structured and dramatic settings. Since we’ve had the opportunity to work with a range of designers and see of their inspiration come to life, it gives us confidence in knowing that the end product is going to perfectly align with a client’s vision. 

Generally, we will start by vetting a décor partner, but sometimes there is a design element that comes from an invitation or personal item that dictates the design. In these cases we may start with our invitations to dictate the design direction. 

Telling the Story Through Visuals

With the correct vendor team in place, it’s time to start to translate the story of the event into concepts based on the inspiration, venue, and design elements compiled from our initial design meeting. This is the truly fun part, where we allow our designers to truly flex within the parameters of the inspiration. It never ceases to amaze us that when presented with a few key concepts, a designer is able to layer in so much added creativity, building on current trends, their own inventory, and new products, to come up with something that takes the initial concept to the next level. 

In working with our vendor team, we translate a variety of proposals, financials, and other documents into a cohesive design deck for our clients. Having this information all in one place, but presented in a cohesive package truly allows us to see the differences in options and help bring the story to life. 

Solidifying the Design with Samples

Cake tastings are not the only sampling that happens when planning a wedding. Just like building a house, it’s important to gain an understanding, beyond just renderings, of the textures, hues, and depth of a design. With our chosen concept we work with our vendor team to create a small mock-up of what the finished product will look like, capturing floral, décor, and lighting to help bring the concept to life in an isolated environment. 

This allows the designer to also engage with the client and us, to explore some final finishing touches. It could be that we realize that a true amber hue in the lighting is too yellow on our gold accents, and we should adjust the hue to a slightly more true white light. Or it could be that seeing a floral composition in real life, leads us to add a bit more contrast by adding some vibrant dahlias scattered throughout our elevated centerpieces. 

Having a sample not only solidifies our design but also allows us to confidently move into the execution of the event. 

Bringing the Story to Life

For some venues, our event team is given 3 hours to load in and set up before guest arrival. That means that from an empty venue, the entire event space is completely transformed before the first guests steps foot into the room. To make this magic happen, we work with our vendor team to create a seamless execution plan, staggering load-in times, compiling floor plans that can help us stage the space as the caterer sets up tables and drops linens. Lighting and a/v teams will know exactly where to build pin spots, and cast gobos, prior to arrival, and it truly becomes an orchestra of concise chaos depending on the space. 

Here is where design and experience come together to make for an amazing end product. As the plan comes to life, we often find that a slight angling of a sofa, or a rotation of a centerpiece can take a design from great to incredible. We always build in time for that final look with fresh eyes, before the client arrives that helps bring those polishing touches to life.

Finding Magic In The Details

Event guests rarely ever know what goes on behind the scenes at an event, and that is by design. Our goal is always to create a seamless experience for both our clients and their guests. For us, it’s walking through the reception and seeing guests relaxing in a lounge vignette sharing a moment or a photo together, comfortable and relaxed in the space, or the slight adjustment in lighting as the evening progresses that allows guests to get lost in a bit more shadow, embracing the energy of the evening. It’s those little moments that make a design come to life and we are lucky enough to see it happen time and time again!