Check out this Summer Scape! We had the privilege of co-hosting Jacksonville’s most recent Perfect Wedding Guide’s Summer Bridal Showcase with Jacksonville’s Downtown Public Library! It’s an incredibly unique space that many brides (corporate and leisure clients, too) are unaware of as a potential space for weddings and events alike. With its modern sleek architectural design, the downtown Public Library is way more than “just a library” – it’s the next event destination in Jacksonville!

Destination Weddings by DPC – a subsidiary of Destination Planning – is on the cutting edge of event design.  Staying in tune with the hottest colors, trends and styles of weddings across the world, we are able to really bring creative twists to every element of our events.  The first question when creative ideas come to the table is “How much will it cost?”. So our Design Team thought it would be a great idea to show off some fantastic ways that brides can have unique elements to their weddings without breaking the budget! 

Up one floor is the library’s beautiful outdoor courtyard – magnificent space for any occasion. With symmetrical rows of trees, a long rectangular fountain, and views of downtown Jacksonville, our Design Team designed the whole area to resemble a summertime ceremony, cocktail hour and reception scene. Perfect for the trend-setting bride, we created the ceremony site with chic white leather benches set at an angle accented with neon green and teal pillows. This is a far cry from the typical folding chairs or specialty style chairs that most use.  With budget as a concern, our team wanted to show that how these same furniture benches from the ceremony can later be re-purposed in the cocktail reception or reception party to create comfortable furniture groupings by adding just a few elements.  Want your guests to relax? This cocktail reception and/or reception party furniture included an extensive lounge area complete with white leather high backs, large round ottomans, each accented with more pillows and several high boy cocktail tables dressed in vibrant teal or melon linens. The reception dinner area consisted of two long tables situated between the row of trees and the centered fountain. Our team is finding that brides and grooms want something different when it comes to the table seating and layouts. Often times, the hardest part of a wedding are the seating arrangements. It is with new and unique seating layouts that this dreaded process can become something fun and different.  By creating unique long dinner tables for dining, our Design Team created a playful seating style as high back white leather benches were featured on one side of the table and clear acrylic chairs on the other side. This created an exciting invitation to have dinner with all your guests. The table was dressed in beautiful teal taffeta crinkled textured  linens and topped with stunning patterned overlay that consisted of a modern floral design with teals and melon colors. Each place setting consisted of a neatly folded melon colored napkin topped with a delicious wedding favor cookie in wedding themed shapes like wedding dresses, and wedding bells.  When creating these alternate table styles, budget is again the biggest factor in thinking about flowers.  With the design our team created, we were able to cut down the overall floral budget with some innovative low tablescapes consisting of a long row of dark brown Manzanita branches, with a white hydrangea head centered in between each grouping of branches. Each white hydrangea had resonating accents of the blue-bomb orchid heads tucked within it, while the branches had delicate mokara orchids dotted throughout. In between each branch piece were small cylinder vases filled with river rocks, water and a handful of floating mokaras. Using branches is a unique look without breaking the bank. For those brides who aren’t crazy about flowers or who have a smaller décor budget, branches are an impressive look.

Bored of the same old “head tables”? Well so is our Design Team!  Destination Weddings by DPC designed a very non-traditional head table for this reception as we feel that the wedding party, primarily the bride and groom, should always be the point of focus for the evening. In today’s weddings, panel style seating  and sweet heart tables for head tables are not the only option.For this event, we wanted to use  three round tables but in a new way.  By pulling them together creating one table, we were able to effectively and attractively seat ourwedding party. Using luxurious teal colored, textured linens over these tables and setting the same place settings to create some resonance with the guest tables, the look was amazing.  To create the WOW factor, our team placed a trio of  cylinder vases in the center of each of the tables. The main centerpiece sat in the center of where the three tables met and  included a tall cylinder wrapped in corresponding color ribbon topped with a plush grouping of white hydrangea and melon roses with accenting berries and three strands of melony cymbidium orchids protruding out from the bottom of the arrangement. This was centered on a bed of white hydrangeas and four mini cube vases on each corner of the base arrangement, filled with river rocks, water and two floating blue-bomb orchid heads. This look made a significant statement at wedding reception and created that focal point throughout the night. A boldly designed centerpiece draws the attention to your table, while incorporating the best elements of your guests’ tables.

This is just one of the many ways a bride could set up the library’s outdoor courtyard or any wedding venue. This was a fun summer scape that keeps the budget bride in mind and her guests impressed! Stay tuned for more DPC Designs! Let us know when your BIG DAY is and let us create design perfection on a budget!

Written By:

Natalie Meyers & Nicole Hernandez

Welcome to Jacksonville, Florida! Adventure, culture, history…these are words usually describing hot spots around the world. Many are surprised to find out that these same words are used to describe our great city of Jacksonville.  It’s a city chock full of vibrant history and life, that spans as far back as 1791. Originally known as “Cowford”, since cattle used to cross a shallow area in the St. John’s River, Jacksonville is now named after the first military governor of Florida, Andrew Jackson in 1882. Only about 25 miles south of the Georgia border, Jacksonville is the most northern city on the First Coast and is the largest city by square mileage in the entire United States!

Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite! The “Great Fire of 1901” spawned this infamous line when an enormous fire burned the entire business district of downtown Jacksonville and 10,000 homes to the ground in just eight hours!  In the early years of Jacksonville, mattresses were stuffed with Spanish moss, which still hangs from many North Florida trees, today. It all began at a local mattress production factory, when an ember blew out the window as workers were cooking off the little bugs that live in the Spanish moss. It is still, to this day, the largest urban fire in the Southeast region of the U.S. Amazingly, in just eleven years, over 13,000 buildings were rebuilt.

Lights, Camera, Action! Jacksonville was also the home of the original Hollywood! Around 1910, New York silent film pioneers chose Jacksonville for its exotic landscapes, warm climate, inexpensive labor and access to railways. More than thirty studios were built in a decade, earning Jacksonville great recognition for this new found entertainment and quickly named, “The Winter Film Capital of the World”! Unfortunately, Jacksonville’s conservative population ousted the increasingly popular big film production center, but today several original buildings remain as museums or other media businesses.

Jacksonville has a huge selection of entertainment and vibrant arts culture. It’s home of the Florida Theatre, where Elvis Presley performed his first indoor concert.  Local Juvenile Court Judge Marion Gooding threatened Elvis with incarceration if he “wiggled” his hips during the concert, and proceeded to sit in the front row to ensure that Elvis obeyed. Instead, Elvis just “wiggled” his finger. The Times Union Center for the Performing Arts contains three exception recital halls and stages that attract everything from big Broadway productions and world-renowned symphonies to local ballet recitals and choirs. The largest public library in the state of Florida finds its home in downtown Jacksonvilleas it is enhanced by traveling exhibits, unique map collections and various other artwork. Lastly, Jacksonville has an amazing variety of museums including, but not limited to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Museum  of Science and History (MOSH), etc.

Invitations - Get creative with your party invites! For example, think “inside the box” by placing a fake finger (available at any costume store) on a bed of cotton inside a small box.  Tie a black “reminder” ribbon around the finger and affix a label with the party details to the inside cover of the box.  This is sure to be an invitation your guests won’t forget!

Finger Food – Thrill your guests with creepy culinary concoctions!  Eyeball brownies are always a crowd pleaser…just bake your favorite store-bought brownies for 15 minutes, roll them into 1” balls once cooled, dip the balls in white chocolate, and decorate with gel frosting!  For even more ideas, visit www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/creepy-treats.  Also be sure to ask your local wine store about Halloween-themed varieties with creepy labels that are readily available this time of year.

Dress to Kill – Costumes are a must!  Keep a spare costume or two on stand-by for any guests who choose to show up “as themselves.”  Feel free to have a little fun with the costume choice for your party poopers!

Several months of dedicated work, along with help from our Webmaster have resulted in updates to our website, photo gallery and a new blog site that’s incorporated into our website. Visit us on the Web at www.destinationplanning.com

DPC Blog
Destination Planning Corporation is very excited to launch our new blog site–http://dpcdmc.wordpress.com - a place where we can share stories and photos from our fantastic events, client testimonials, ideas for you to consider and other news. You will also be able to share your feedback directly to us!

Social Media
Follow us on Twitter or check us out on Facebook. You now have several options to stay in touch with your premier destination management company. The entire team is excited about using these social media sites, so you’ll know exactly what’s the latest with all of us. Make sure you stop by soon and tell us “HELLO“.

Awards

Destination Planning Corporation has once again been selected by Jacksonville Business Journal as one of Jacksonville’s TOP WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.