New in the Photo Gallery:
Arched Entryways

Start the party at the front door of hotels and banquet facilities instead of waiting until guests enter the banquet room. While some event planners setup an easel display or A-frame sign in the entryway directing incoming guests to the appropriate room, others know that decorating the entryway boosts anticipation and excitement among guests. Decorative displays with lush greenery and fresh flowers establish a festive impression around the easel display or other signage.

For example, this classic colonnade arch system creates a greeting with grandeur at this hotel entryway. Decorated with lights and greenery by Lisa Loosen, Heavenly Creations, Milwaukee, Wis., this colonnade arch system brings festivity to an otherwise ordinary doorway.

See more entryway photos here.

A Bright Seating Idea

Light up the party, atrium, or restaurant with this new seating concept. These contemporary chairs with coordinating cocktail tables shine LED lights upwards and out from inside to create a striking look of glowing rays of color.

Mix and match chairs, tables, cubes and cylinders in a range of sizes to bring a dose of cool to any room.

See pictures of the complete line here.

Canopy Design for High Ceilings

There would be no reason to hide or reduce the visual height of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. But for the rest of us planning weddings and events in facilities where the ceilings weren't painted by Michelangelo, we can create canopies. Stringing balloons, curtains, flags or other decor over the room, canopies bring the height of a ceiling down to a more comfortable, intimate height. They can divert attention off of an empty, cold, high ceiling and focus it on the party.

More thanks to Lisa Loosen of Heavenly Creations for sharing her expertise in designing canopies. At this wedding, she set Empire Series columns at the four corners of the dance floor, topping each one with green plants and winding them with coordinating greenery and charming lights. This defined and highlighted the dance floor and live band.

Each column was linked to a central point near the ceiling by smooth, white curtains that established a lower, more intimate height for the high, white ceiling.

See more canopy designs with columns and balloons here.

Prop, Décor & Display Ideas is published by Meese Orbitron Dunne Co.; 4920 State Rd., Ashtabula, OH, 44004; 888.724.1228; Copyright 2009 Meese, Inc. May not be reprinted without permission. Feel free to forward to friends and colleagues.

Newsletter problem? Email Paul Entin at paul@modroto.com.