Need some fun ideas for your bridal or baby shower? Want a unique design for your wedding reception? We partnered with our Splendor Vendor, All Well Rents, to show a fun way to decorate for this spring season.

We created a centerpiece with a pink parasol anchored in a vase filled with orchids. We also placed shawls on the chairs and tied them with All Well’s chair ties and an orchid.

See it in person in their showroom: 2125 S. Platte River Dr. Denver, CO

Fun Covering for the Table

Shawl on the Chair

We were thrilled to participate in this amazing photo shoot. Thanks to many talented people, we were able to create a modern look at weddings. Most of the vendors who participated in this shoot are Studio Wed vendors, a boutique Denver wedding planning studio.
We hope these photos inspire you to create something unique and memorable with your wedding.

It wouldn’t have been possible without these great vendors:
Wedding Planner: Julie Gambrell, Classic Creations
Wedding Florist: Alicia Schwede, Bella Fiori
Wedding Stylist: Tina Gill, Worthwhile Style
Wedding Hair and Makeup: Kori Schell
Wedding Cake: Slice
Bridal and Bridesmaid Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid
Wedding Invitations: JS Design
Location: Palazzo Verdi
Rentals: Event Rents
Linens: Chair Covers and Linens
Rigging: T’da Designs
Umbrellas & Shawls: Splendor

As an Image Consultant for almost 20 years, I’ve seen how much importance is placed on the color tones for a wedding. I always recommended to brides that color should reflect your personality, yet also set the style and tone for your very special day. First and foremost – choose wedding colors that YOU love and then use those colors in your bridesmaids’ dresses, shawls, decorations, cake, favors, flowers, umbrellas, accessories, table linens and even the invitations! Here are a couple of tips to remember as you select your colors:

1. Consider Your Surroundings. Where is the ceremony and reception? Will they be indoors or outdoors? Choose colors that complement the setting. Consider the venue and its location, (in the mountains, by the ocean, rustic and natural, or elegant and traditional). Also, consider the window treatments, carpet and overall venue décor.
2. Dramatic? Romantic? What’s Your Style? What mood do you want to create? Vibrant colors add drama, while soft colors evoke a more romantic atmosphere.
3. Let the Season Guide You. The time of the year can influence your color scheme, such as spring and summer colors tend to be lighter, while fall and winter colors are generally darker.
4. Make the Most Impact. Also, to avoid having a overly busy looking event, try to limit your main colors to two or three and remain consistent with your colors throughout the wedding site. You can always add a few subdued colors for a more elegant look.

2011 Wedding Color Trends

Popular wedding color choices for 2011:

turquoise, navy, chartreuse, yellow, honeysuckle
deep red, black & white, slate grey, purple, latte

Enjoy selecting your colors and remember Splendor for Your Guests offers shawl and umbrella rentals and shawl purchases in all of these hot colors for 2011 weddings!

- Lori Ryno, Development Director for Splendor

I recently participated in the Wedding Preview Event, a wedding showcase put on by My Big Day Planner in Denver. In addition to visiting vendor tables and chatting, the brides and grooms were able to witness actual wedding ceremonies, gorgeous gowns, and beautiful reception table designs.

I was honored to be asked to help with the reception table decor and jumped on the chance right away. We used the shawls to adorn the chairs, adding color and texture to the design. We heard some great comments about the luxurious touch. One person even said, “that’s so wonderful, every wedding should include shawls for the guests!”.

Here are some photos from the day (a huge thanks to Keri Doolittle Photography)!

What do jelly beans, cupcakes, and doughnuts have in common? They’re all fun, yummy sweets to offer guests at dessert tables. Jaclyn Webb knows this as she’s the owner of Lemon Sprinkle Events, a company completely focused on designing and creating gorgeous dessert tables. Each table is thoughtfully pieced together to best reflect the honored person or couple. Some tables include traditional sweets from childhood while others are simply inspired by favorite flavors. It was so much fun hearing Jaclyn’s excitement and passion for her work. She’s a self-proclaimed “candy aficionado”, especially regarding the 1980s era. We laughed as we remembered enjoying Pop Rocks and Rock Candy as kids.

Photo courtesy of Laura Murray
Dessert tables are a memorable, unique way to treat your guests to the sweetness in life. They offer another way to showcase your colors and theme with the fine details. Jaclyn has such creativity with desserts. Check out the funky white chocolate mustaches! Not only does she work with brides and grooms, but also loves wedding and baby showers, bachelorette parties, and birthdays. I wish I’d known about her for my daughter’s birthday – what a great way to honor someone while offering something yummy to the guests. For more dessert table inspiration, check out Jaclyn’s blog and website. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Photos courtesy of Jaclyn Webb

Today, we are featured on CoutureColorado.com! We participated in an incredible photo shoot with one of our favorite people, Lola of Mansurovs Photography and Denver’s best event professionals. Lola had a vision to create the feel of opulence and elegance and achieved it perfectly. The rich, red colors paired with golds and ivories really make a statement. Need some inspiration? See the post.

The flowers, created by Julia of Mulberries Flowers, incorporated a variety of textures, from smooth berries to velvety roses. The stationery products pulled the colors and feel of the design together, thanks to the talents of Julie Sandusky, JS Design. The stationery designs played off the beautiful damask-design of the cake, which was created by Rachel of Intricate Icings (a Food Network Challenge contestant!). Classic Chiavari chairs from All Well Rents were adorned with two shawls from Splendor. The first, an ivory classic shawl, was placed as a backdrop in order to highlight our specialty red silk Leyla shawl. The red silk shawl, with its circle design, pops against the ivory background and adds another detail for the guests to enjoy, besides helping them stay warm. To designate the ladies’ chairs, ivory beads were strung across the shawl. A touch that adds to the opulent feel. See more details…

Venue: DoubleTree Denver Tech Center
Dress: Anna Be Bridal Boutique
Shawls and Parasol: Splendor for your Guests
Chairs and Chargers: All Well Rents
Place cards: Julie Sandusky  of JS Design
Floral: Julia Kaaren -Mulberries
Cake: Intricate Icings
Photographer: Mansurovs Photography

Angela and Ty chose the incredible Ritz-Carlton on Beaver Creek Mountain, overlooking the majestic Rocky Mountains, for their 10/10/10 wedding. Angela’s dream was to have their ceremony outside, amidst the true beauty of the state they call home. They realized that the weather may not cooperate, so an alternate plan was necessary. Renting shawls and umbrellas through Splendor seemed the perfect solution, both for warmth and for design. Shawls saved their beautiful outdoor wedding.
Their wedding day was a crisp fall day at only 45 degrees. It was dry, but threatening clouds came and went. We set-up the wedding wearing winter coats and wishing we even had gloves. Luckily, by ceremony time, the clouds parted and the sun rose the temperature a bit. Incredible photographers at StudioJK caught some wonderful shots of the day.

We were told that the guests were thrilled to use the shawls as many of the women hadn’t brought coats or even wraps to the ceremony. They also added a pop of color to the chairs and gave us an opportunity to include another special detail to make the wedding unique.

To make sure they didn’t have to worry about raindrops ruining their plans, they got umbrellas in chocolate and merlot. What a fun way to keep the drops away!

Amazing photography provided by: Studio JK

Debbie DiClaudio, premier wedding planner and owner of Save the Date Events, lists some great ideas for holiday and winter weddings. Did someone say dessert bar? How fun! Read her whole list and see some great photos on The Knot!

Last week, my good friend, Michelle Gillette of Dramatic Events, asked me to partner with her on a table design for the wedding showcase at Denver Botanic Gardens. She wanted to create a romantic, yet unique table setting that was a perfect complement for these beautiful gardens. Here’s the final design. Read on for the story behind it!

Pink Romance Design

At the beginning of our design meeting, we decided to use a parasol as our focal point and signature piece. Our plan came together so quickly that we were ready to gather the elements after a brief conversation.

Michelle ordered the gorgeous linens, china, crystal, silver, table, and chairs from Event Rents. I was so excited when she forwarded me photos of the linens and place settings. I knew they would really add a soft romance to our table.

Next, we selected flowers from the fresh floral market. Gorgeous stems of orchids were our main choice. We also chose various other flowers in our color scheme. I’m no florist so I have no idea what they were, but I can ask my amazing florist friends if you would like to know.

The day of the event, we arrived to find our table in the shade (thank goodness). It was a very hot day, which is compounded when the sun is a mile closer (such as in the Mile High City). We started setting up and all was going smoothly, until… we realized that our centerpiece wasn’t coming together as expected. We’d planned to use floral foam to anchor the parasol’s handle in the base of the vase. Unfortunately, the foam we had was for dry arrangements, and was floating in the water instead of soaking it up and forming an anchor. Next, the foam started breaking apart and sticking to the inside of the vase. At this point, I started giggling and saying how I felt we were on a reality TV show. My solution was to use paper towels to stuff around the foam and hopefully keep it in place. That seemed to work. At the end of it all, Michelle created a gorgeous centerpiece and now we know how to recreate it for the first bride who wants to do a parasol flower arrangement (we’re taking requests!).

We also incorporated our raspberry pink shawls as the chair decor. Michelle created the custom-designed jewelry to adorn the shawls.

Jewelry adornments for shawl chair decor

The look came together and got some great comments. We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed creating this look.

It was a sunny and hot beginning to Labor Day weekend. A beautiful city garden at Washington Park was being prepared for a ceremony that would change the lives of two people. The colors of the flowers were vibrant, the scent of the grass was deep. The guests began to arrive, ooh-ing and ah-hing at their surroundings.

I quickly realized what a well-dressed group we had. I was excited to see their reactions to the raspberry umbrellas and raspberry and chocolate shawls the bride had selected to protect them from possible cold and rain. As the guests approached, I overheard one woman exclaim, “Look at the umbrellas! I can’t wait to use one!”. Anyone else might have thought it was a funny thing to say on a sunny, no-cloud day. However, as we watched, one guest after another helped themselves to personal shade. They popped open the raspberry umbrellas and kept the sun at bay.

The raspberry and chocolate shawls were wrapped with white ribbon and displayed in a trunk at the reception. Although most of Denver was experiencing a chilly night, the boathouse at Washington Park was warmed with dancing and enjoyment. Not many shawls were needed, but they had them, just in case.  The bride knew that if her guests were comfortable, they would enjoy the wedding and stay to celebrate with them through the night. Cheers to our latest Splendor couple. We wish them the best!