martha + peter – the engagement party @ the four seasons

We were back for the 2nd time in 2 weeks at The Four Seasons for a private event. This one, an engagement party for Martha and Peter was another stunner.

On a bit of a tangent for a minute though first… it’s amazing though when you see how two different and brilliant event designers can outfit a room. This is what David Stark did with the space this week…

Once again, the lighting was done by Frost Lighting. If you care to indulge a personal soapbox spiel for a sec – I really can’t emphasize enough what an amazing impact lighting has on an event. It’s unfortunate that most event spaces don’t provide their own professional lighting because in terms of bang for the buck – you can’t beat lighting. It kills me sometimes when I walk into a room with these fantastic floral centerpieces – amazing works of art – on every table but that you really can’t appreciate because they come off like a black hole floating in a dimly lit room.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not against dimly lit rooms, on the contrary, I’m all for ambiance and for mood lighting. Professional lighters don’t “light up” a room, they accent it – carefully and judiciously filling in spots that are focal points – much like we design an album, with thought put into how the eye is drawn around the space.

And nowadays, with lights that change colors or move, you can change the mood & look of your space all night long. Ok, now I’m getting a bit geeky, right?

But on a more micro note, look at the effect the little pin spot has on this tiny arrangement on the table top. Without that spot, that centerpiece would be totally lost and no amount of votive candlelight would bring light to the top of it.

Ok, so I get overly excited by things like this but part of my job is to find those things that will make for fantastic pictures and, well, good lighting just gives me a lot more to work with.

But you give people like David Stark a blank canvas to work with and it’s amazing what they can come up with. Detailed right down to the magenta pashmina shawls on the back of every loveseat.

The Four Season’s infamous Mini Kobe Burgers

And now on to the handsome couple….

Martha and Peter hit the floor for a romantic moment.

That was a pretty sweet engagement party!