An engaging evening at White Box, Publika

Hello again, dear readers! We hope you have been enjoying the recent Real Wedding posts that we have published, and maybe some of you are drawing inspiration for your big day or for a treasured event. Or maybe you are like us, browsing pictures of pretty flowers and decor simply because we love looking at pretty things :)

Today, we have a blog post on an engagement party that we decorated a little while ago. Many thanks to The Photoz for the lovely pictures! This event's venue was White Box at Publika, in Kuala Lumpur.



We teamed up with Leticia of Elysium Weddings to put together this wonderful evening of joy and celebration. With just one week to prep for this event, there was no time to waste! And we couldn't have found a better partner than Elysium Weddings to work on such a tight deadline. Fortunately, our bride-to-be was clear about what she wanted and what she liked.

A cosy, stylish setting with a Renaissance-inspired ambiance was what we wanted. There would be trees and white florals, an idea inspired by David and Victoria Beckham's wedding some 13 years ago. But nothing over-the-top, she reminded.





The drapes, portraits in gilded frames and the "living room" with a fireplace and couches were arranged by Elysium Weddings. For the trees that our bride-to-be wanted, we used natural curly branches decorated with Taiwan ivy, hanging tealights and organza butterflies.



Stylish black-and-gold chairs lined both sides of two long banquet tables, that sat 100 specially-invited guests. For that evening we created 16 trees that sat atop the tables.





At the base of each of the 16 trees we created centerpieces from our bride-to-be's favorite blooms: white parrot tulips, white hydrangea and white mathiola. Between trees across the tables, we added loads of baby's breath that were also designed to hold tealight candles. We are really liking the use the baby's breath on its own, instead of traditionally using it as a filler for arrangements. There is so much elegance in its simplicity, don't you think? And so pretty too!



Another view of the dining area...

We hope you've enjoyed pictures from this engagement party. Till the next time, Wishing Tree Blog readers!

Real Wedding: Dawn and Rudi, Part II

Welcome to Part II of Real Wedding: Dawn and Rudi. For pictures and the story from the wedding ceremony, please click on the link for Part I. Get inspired!



Dawn and Rudi held their dinner reception in Ti Chen at The Saujana Kuala Lumpur, which is adjacent to The Club At The Saujana and just 5 minutes away. As their wedding ceremony was short and intimate, we didn't want the beautiful, fresh flowers to go to waste. So we reused them for our couple's dinner reception - that was held one hour after the conclusion of ceremony.

As you can see from the picture above, Dawn and Rudi went for a modern Chinese theme for the wedding dinner. So we used the flowers from the ceremony to decorate the area outside the dinner venue.





Flowers constitute one of the biggest wastage in weddings and it breaks our hearts to see them chucked out after just one event, especially when they still look pretty fresh. We are always more than happy to re-use your wedding flowers if you have another event on the same day.

At Dawn and Rudi's wedding, we were glad that the dinner reception was held in the same location and not too long after their first event. Most of the flowers went to the stairs and banisters leading to Zamrud Room at The Club At The Saujana, and the rest were used on table tops in the cocktail / reception area. We added some orchids and hurricane candles with red satin ribbons to tie in with the dinner theme.





Thanks to Leticia of Elysium Weddings for prettying up the reception area with beautifully framed photographs of the couple and the lovely stationery.




Credits to the banqueting team at Ti Chen for the flowers, table decor and drapes! This time around Wishing Tree only took care of the decor outside the dinner area and supplied the table linens, chairs and backdrop for the stage.

Thanks again to our dear couple, Dawn and Rudi, for sharing your wedding with us! Scroll down the blog to see Part I of 'Real Wedding: Dawn and Rudi', or simply click here.

Real Wedding: Dawn and Rudi, Part I

Our heartiest congratulations to Dawn and Rudi! Their wedding was one of the prettiest and most intimate we have had the honour of decorating in a while. We just received these beautiful photos from our good friends at Jim Liaw Photography (JLP) and we are so excited to share them with you!



Our couple live in Hong Kong, but came back to Rudi's hometown in Kuala Lumpur for an intimate ceremony with close family and friends. Many thanks to Leticia of Elysium Weddings for planning and coordinating with such care and attention to detail.

Here's a new idea: the wedding ceremony was held inside the private dining room at The Restaurant, at The Club At The Saujana.  If you have been reading our blog for a while, you would have read about the few weddings that we have decorated at The Club At The Saujana. But all the ceremonies have been conducted outdoors, near the hotel's cascading water feature in the lush, green garden, never a wedding ceremony inside the private dining room.



What do you think? We love the simplicity of the private dining room that allows decor to be easily customized. We draped the walls, brought in the chiavari chairs and installed the white carpeting for the aisle. The arch with the customized "D & R" initials and the sewn-on "mat" at the start of the aisle were also arranged by Wishing Tree.

Our bride initially wanted "roses only" for her wedding, but changed her mind after our ideas to include the baby's breath and lush, bountiful hydrangea. Baby's breath is normally used as a "filler" or as a "supporting" aspect to floral arrangements, but we do try to use them on their own. They are so pretty especially when used in large amounts, as pictured above.



For the jip san leong ceremony (where the groom and his entourage "storm" the bride's family home to pick her up) we kept her bridal bouquet simple and elegant with just red roses, and a touch of green nosa for some visual interest. Our bride wanted to keep her bouquet, so she requested that we made another, smaller one (top right) for the bouquet tossing! That's another good idea for brides who want to hang on to their beautiful, custom bouquets.



The entrance to the wedding ceremony venue at The Restaurant, at The Club At The Saujana, framed with white drapes and a lush arrangement of baby's breath and Taiwan ivy along the top. Using baby's breath on its own in large amounts can make a pretty impressive statement! The drapes are held in place with more Taiwan ivy with bunches of roses and hydrangea.




We kept the decor in the ceremony venue classic and elegant. Bunches of lush, pink hydrangea are attached to the all-white seats on both sides of the aisle. At the entrance end of the aisle, two arrangements of roses, hydrangea and baby's breath placed on tall stands are decorated with floor-length tassels and candles. We couldn't just leave the microphone stand bare - so we dressed it up with Taiwan ivy and a pop of color with a rose.




For the arch, lots and lots of hydrangea, with some roses, baby's breath and Taiwan ivy! Using different shades of pink with touches of white and green adds even more dimension to the textures of the flowers.



Thank you so much, Dawn and Rudi, for sharing your wedding with us!

Dear readers, please stay tuned for Part II of 'Real Wedding: Dawn and Rudi' - we will be posting it shortly.

Real Wedding: Tengku Azura and Rahmat, Part II

This is Part II of Real Wedding: Tengku Azura and Rahmat. To see Part I of this white winter wedding, please scroll down or simply click here.

In Part I we saw this beautiful winter-themed wedding in a different light, literally. Moments before guests arrived and festivities of the memorable evening kicked off, the regular lights were turned down, the candles were lit, and a magical blanket of blue filled the ballroom.




Enchanting, isn't it? We can't get over how almost completely different this looks from before the lighting came on!

With indoor wedding receptions, which probably account for 95 percent of all receptions in Malaysia due to our hot and humid weather, and inconsistent rainy seasons, one of the most important elements is lighting if ambiance is something you are very particular about. Many wedding locations - mainly hotel ballrooms - provide this to a certain extent.

For Azura and Rahmat's wedding, Wishing Tree is proud to provide this service as well. We also draped the entire ballroom to enable more control over the ambiance and to reflect the lighting for the overall mood. For this white winter theme, practically any colour lighting would have worked, but we went with blue. Light the candles hanging from the trees, and you've got pure magic in the air.





When using all-white florals, you can see how easily they pick up the light. White spot lights can be used to draw focus, colour lighting is used to create ambiance and mood, and candle light adds so much warmth to any setting.




Caught in the spotlights - the wedding cake on the stage, and the two types of guest table centerpieces. The low centerpiece features white chrysanthemum, white roses, white chrysanthemum "ping pong" and white lilies. As described in Part I, the tall arrangements are filled with white roses and some lilies, with tendrils of white mathiola and silverleaf.

The lights were turned down even more during cocktails and guests mingled in the bewitching ballroom. Very minimal blue/cyan lighting was used and countless candles and tealights helped to provide the mood and atmosphere. It was almost as if you were inside the glow worm caves of New Zealand.





We hope that this wedding has been an inspiration to those of you who are planning a wedding. This theme is totally flexible in that this can be customized for an outdoor wedding if that is what you are dreaming of. Just give us a call or drop us an e-mail, and we will work out the designs for you!

Thank you once again, to our lovely bride Tengku Azura and her new husband, Rahmat, for the honour of being a part of your most treasured life event and for sharing this beautiful reception with our readers.

See Part I of 'Real Wedding: Tengku Azura and Rahmat'.
 

Real Wedding: Tengku Azura and Rahmat, Part I

Gorgeous, isn't it? This looks like a page right out of a magazine, if we may say so ourselves :)

Our bride, Tengku Azura, envisioned her big day in white winter theme, decked in gorgeous blooms in a lush setting and heavy with the scent of romance. What an honour to be given the privilege to bring her dream wedding to life! She and Rahmat held their wedding reception in the grand ballroom at The Westin Kuala Lumpur, photographed by one our favourite photographers, Yeh of Wondrous Vision. Thank you for the beautiful photos, Yeh!



Lilies are Tengku Azura's favourite flowers so we were sure to use plenty of them in the bridal table's centerpiece. The wonderful fragrance of lilies that filled the air was indescribable. Even though we wanted to fill the tops of these tall vases with lilies, we didn't want them to look squished together either, so we used white roses to fill the space between the lilies. Tendrils of white mathiola, slivers of silverleaf and delicate strings of crystal beads complete the tall arrangements.




The base of the centerpiece was covered in white blooms as well. Using more glassware filled with white lilies, white roses, silverleaf, mathiola, and white chrysanthemum "ping pongs", we achieved loads of texture and varying heights. Arranging all these different flowers in separate vases makes this a breeze to do. Add some white candles between the arrangements, and you've got all the right stuff!

 


One of the standout installations at this breathtaking reception were the white trees dripping with gorgeous mathiola that framed many a photograph taken that evening. These were real trees, towering at 12 feet and lining the aisle leading to the bridal table and the stage. In the top right photo, you can see one of our designers trimming the bountiful baby's breath used to decorate the base of the trees. The height of the trees were important in achieving the effect we wanted; see how tall they are compared to him?

We hung hundreds of mathiola on the branches and wrapped strings of orchid garlands around the tree trunks. Tea lights dangled from the branches at varying heights, and we simply couldn't wait for the lights to be turned down! The effect would be nothing less than magical, as you can imagine.



Here is another view of the bridal table and the stage in the background. We also provided the drapes and linens to ensure our bride's "strictly white" wishes were met.





Guest tables also featured centerpieces and all-white flowers. Pictured here are the tall arrangements (we also made low arrangements that you will see in Part II of this Real Wedding) filled with mainly roses, with a few lilies and white chrysanthemum "ping pongs". White mathiola, silverleaf and crystal beads complete the arrangement to tie-in with the arrangements featured at the bridal table.

One of our creative directors, Adrian, is pictured putting the final touches on the three-tiered wedding cake. We really enjoy using imported roses - just look at the sheer size of them compared to Adrian's hands! The stage is decorated with tall floor arrangements using white phalaenopsis orchids, roses and strands of orchids, while the white trees feature more orchid strands, white chrysanthemum ping pongs, baby's breath and hanging tea lights.

Look out for Part II of this beautiful wedding reception, when the lights go down and magic comes out to play!