Event Blog: Turning it Orange! Banyan Tree Cafe Phuket Thailand

One of my “neophyte days” events that I did was a grand wedding by an Indian couple in Phuket. It was a very festive event, with 5 days of parties and celebrations  and parties…and more parties, surely the guests really had fun (we had fun also).

One of the night party that was tasked to me was to create a cozy, warm (not that all out rave party) venue. A place where guests can really talk and chill-out with one another. I think the key word there was “chill-out”.

Our venue was the Banyan Cafe in the Banyan Tree Hotel. We played and got inspired with the orange and brown combination like an “Hermes” box. We painted the existing columns in tangerine and wrapped around a rich brown ribbon (wrapping those ribbons were a bit of a headache). We also played around with fabrics of the same motif and created a festive look from a plain resort type cafe.

This is the schematic sketch that I did for the main entrance area. We framed the existing buddha statue with fabrics and ribbons to create a vertical reference. For carpets, instead of red, we thought of using a bolder shade ——yes it is orange!

Here is a schematic sketch for the whole  venue.  We installed a dance floor and a DJ table. Also we created pocket areas for seating (lounge type)

The set-up was a bit nerve wracking, I started coordinating everything early in the morning with painting started a couple of days before, except for the dance floor. The weather was not participating also because it was cloudy with a bit of a drizzle. All in all we did it (Thank God)! It was awesome because we stayed true on what we have designed and it turned out pretty chic and classy.

It was a blessing to have worked with these lovely folks. I learned a lot for my first big event gig. After this, I did a lot of events but I must say, this team has a big place in my heart.

A wedding and a lot of butterflies...

I love helping friends with their DIYs. DIYs always give that special touch to every event and for an event as intimate as a wedding, for me DIYs are a must (specially for us Filipinos). This can be stressful for some, but for others, this can be very rewarding and a great time to bond.

When my friend asked my help to do a décor for their wedding stage (stressing already that they don’t have a budget) I was excited and ready for the challenge. We decided to play with paper. I always love working with paper. I think they can be elegant if used properly. It is easy to cut, to fold—to print on, you can really do a lot from it.

First stop, I googled some possible inspirations. We came across some butterfly cut-outs and the bride liked it. So, we thought of creating a curtain full of white paper butterflies. We hanged them on a metallic divider owned by the groom using transparent nylons.

We also thought of creating flowers from paper. Somehow we figured out how to make paper roses (just cut a square paper spirally). We glued them on paper lantern balls we bought from IKEA and decided to hang them along with the butterflies to create some depth and leveling.

Lastly, with the butterfly still in mind, we thought of creating some table accents. We printed musical notes (because the bride is a singer) on a brown/cream cardboard and cut it in varying butterfly shapes (same as the white butterflies), then we glued two together and folded both wings opposite one another for it to stand.

We were all happy on the outcome of our simple paper project. I love how all the couple’s friends pull together just to help them decorate their wedding stage.