Remember the 2007 DC ISES expo? Check out part one, part two, and part three if you want to see what you missed last year.
Last week, Ryan and I ventured to the Bethesda North Marriott where the DC chapter of the International Special Events Society was hosting it’s 2008 expo. This is a spectacular trade show for event professionals that shows us what’s new in the industry and what the latest trends are.
What a beautiful hotel! If you’re planning a larger wedding (400+ guests), this is a really nice new venue that would be ideal for a lot of people. There are plenty of hotel rooms on-site, the ballroom is nearly new and is appointed tastefully, and the staff is used to acommodating a lot of people at once. Here’s what we saw when we entered:
The ISES committee that put together the expo decided to go all out with a theme. Last year’s James Bond theme was only tied into the event a little bit. This year it was Cirque du Soleil! You can really tell by all the beautiful lighting, swagged fabric on the ceiling, and crazy bright colors. I liked this iridescent dance floor although it would hardly be appropriate for a wedding:
The center of the room held a huge circle of lounge furniture from Cort Event Furnishings. Standing on the tables were Cirque-inspired performers who juggled, danced, and generally provided eye candy. Cast of Thousands provided these characters. There’s one in the center there wearing all black and another one off to the right with blue skin:
On the opposite side of the room, Arachne Aerial Arts did a fantastic Cirque-style performance:
One of the booths I was intriqued by was set up by Capitol Decor. Remember when we visited their warehouse in January? Apparently black and white damask is the hot new trend! If you haven’t seen enough of this scheme on Weddingbee (here and here) or Junebug, you certainly will at weddings across the DC metro area over the next two years:
I liked the whole thing, really, but what really got me was the table. Do you see how it’s a clear acrylic or lucite material? There’s space to put stuff in between. They used yellow roses and a layer of water:
Another little detail that struck my fancy was the damask votive holders. Look how cute:
Another furniture rental company, Room Service, caught on to the damask trend too. This company is new to the DC area and we’re glad to have another lounge furniture option:
Sadly I don’t remember whose booth this was and I already tossed the program (eek!). Does anyone remember who had this cool display? Again with the damask…those are actually removable vinyl stickers that can be applied to any surface:
The lights behind the panels subtlety changed colors! Here it is in pink and purple:
Select Event Rentals had this beautiful mini tent set up with a tabletop display inside. I love the ribbon inside the centerpiece vase instead of traditional clear water. I also like the aqua-colored plates on top of the white square chargers:
American Furniture Rental set up this arrangement with funky blue suede furniture pieces:
As always, we saw a few of our vendor friends out and about at the expo. Here’s Tonya from Blue Sky Films:
We also ran into the DaVinci’s Florist crew! The owner Sharone is there on the left, his sister Sivan in the white coat, and Diana on the far right. Jennifer from Syzygy Events is there in the middle. Even when blurry they make a handsome group, don’t you think?
This proper lady was walking around, displaying brochures and candy on her tabletop skirt:
Party Rental had a beautiful table set up with all different combinations of place setting pieces:
Here are a few of my favorites:
If that weren’t enough sensory overload for you, they even had an Obama impersonator complete with a secret service agent (see his earpiece on the right?). Obama got it right down to the American flag lapel pin. Here he is posing with Ryan:
