Interactive champagne wall for Milwaukee New Year's Eve wedding
When I list out my services, I usually write 'wedding planning and design,' and sometimes clients ask me what the design piece really means. For me, styling and design has to do with handling tablescape, prop sourcing and fine details. Also, problem solving...but in a cute way! This is how the interactive champagne wall came about for Lindsay + Harlan's New Year's Eve wedding.
Plant No. 4 in the Historic Third Ward has a 7th floor cocktail hour room that overlooks the lake. It's gorgeous for hosting cocktail hour; however, guests need to ride a smaller elevator to get up there. That's 200+ people getting up to the the 7th floor in small groups on an elevator...so I immediately worry about unpleasant crowding.
Then I had the idea of designing an interactive champagne wall. Something interactive + engaging to take the focus off of their elevator wait. Plus, when you give a wedding guest alcohol, they're happy! It's so easy. Please don't make fun of my horrible, initial design sketch...I am a talented person, I promise:
With the trust of my clients (in seeing past my horrible drawing), I was given the OK to pursuit this champagne wall project!
And really, that's what the design part means: a creative mind that brings to life an inviting + aesthetically pleasing environment that reflects the client. With so many varying wedding ideas and different designs, I can help you narrow down your wedding style, and assist in the realization of what is really important.
Next item on the champagne wall to-do list was to run all of this by the ladies at Wood Violet Mke - after all, they would have to cover the thing in greenery! Emily is a bad ass, creative hustler, so naturally she said yes. After that, I began pulling together some key pieces: 1) the sign for Ever Yours Paper Co to calligraph...which ended up being a pretty mirror from Target and 2) the actual walls with shelving (to hold pre-poured coups of champagne)...which we rented from Relics Vintage Rentals.
The day before the wedding, I picked up the two shelves from Relics, and began to get this baby assembled. The team at Wood Violet Mke provided me with these awesome faux boxwood panels that we attached to the front of the shelves.
Along with those, we popped in the mirror and ringing bell into place (gold bell from Amazon). Everything was assembled using zip ties - that's real #BTS for you. Finally, we had the opening for glasses of champagne to pass through. The pass through frame was just a gold frame that I stapled with silk fabric.
Emily and the Wood Violet Mke team then began covering the faux boxwood walls with real greens! It was the final, beautiful touch. Plus two disco ball accents because NYE!
The real hero in all of this was my assistant, Mandi! She wore a bejeweled glove and passed out hundreds of champagne coups. Guests would ring the bell, and she'd immediately pass a coup through the fabric frame. I went back and forth from the bar, opening bottles of champagne and getting them pre-poured on the shelves for her. We defiantly got into a groove!
When couples have trust in their vendors, magic truly does happen! I was overjoyed to have had this opportunity; and making my clients' day that much more special with this design was icing on the cake.