Wedding Wednesdays: Earth Tones and Textures are On Trend

Garland isn't just for your Christmas decor anymore. These strands of earth are trending right now in the wedding world in more way than one! They can add a floral feel to reception tables, serve as accents in otherwise plain spaces, and create boho vibes in practically any venue. Check out our favorite ways to make them work for your "I dos."

Trim for the Entrance and Exit

Hang garlands or blooms over the doors to the church or reception venue. Bonus—if you leave through the same doors, you'll have an amazing backdrop for festive exit photos.

Line the Aisle

Add some visual interest to an aisle runner with a strand of greenery and a few statement blooms. Or hang swags of garland on the ends of church pews for just a touch of green.

Accent the Tent

Garland adds instant color and texture to any structure—especially a white one where they'll really pop. Line the edges of the tent with greenery and finish with a bunch of fragrant blooms for a luxe touch.

Festoon the Ceiling

Hanging garlands add color and help create a more intimate feel in large rooms or tented spaces. Pair with good lighting so they can be appreciated at night.

Get with the garland trend and devour the details of all the earth tones and textures for your wedding!

Tasty Tuesday: Adoughrable Robin's Egg Spring Donuts

Spring has sprung (even though there was snow in New England yesterday)! And even though we're still thinking about getting in shape for summer—we cannot resist these delicious robin's egg carrot cake donuts. The perfect treat you can't wait to eat. Check out this amazing recipe right here and get to baking today!

Ingredients
For the donuts
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
blue, black, and brown food coloring

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a donut pan with spray. Set aside.
• In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in carrots and mix until combined.
• Meanwhile in a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Alternate folding in the flour mixture and the buttermilk until everything is combined.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared donut molds, filling until the top crest of the mold. Bake for 15 minutes, then allow to cool slightly before inverting onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, whip the butter in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, whole milk, and vanilla extract, whipping an additional minute. Add in 1 drop blue and 1/2 drop black food coloring. This should form a nice robin's egg color. If it's off, experiment with adding more blue and more black, but keep the color light.
• Frost donuts by dolloping 3 tablespoons of frosting onto each donut. Spread evenly over the top, then use the back of a butter knife to scrape the frosting from the inside of the donut, then the outside.
• In a tiny bowl, mix 4 drops of brown food coloring with 2 drops of water. Dip a dry 1-inch brush into mixture, then flick the brush over the donuts, creating desired egg effect.

These beautiful blue robin's egg carrot cake donuts taste just as good as they look! Get your bake on today and devour the details of these perfectly sweet spring treats!

Monday Mashups: The Transformation of Meeting Space

Montreal’s landmark Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth hotel reopened last summer after a yearlong renovation—but the $140 million (Canadian) project didn’t just overhaul the downtown hotel’s decor. It also reimagined its meeting spaces through a new partnership with the business conference C2 Montréal, bringing escape rooms, ball pits, and swing sets as conference seating to what had been traditional hotel meeting space. A true transformation!

The renovation of the luxury hotel, which opened in 1958 and has nearly 1,000 rooms, was led by the architecture division of Sid Lee, the creative agency behind C2. The annual international business conference focuses on commerce and creativity—BizBash named it the most innovative meeting of 2017—and was developed with founding partner Cirque du Soleil. The partnership allows the AccorHotels property to position itself as a venue with spaces designed to facilitate innovative meetings and events.

Along with a new urban market, restaurant and bar, and coffee shop, new spaces for meetings and events at the hotel include the Agora, a lobby-level space with built-in food stations that can serve as a pre-function area; CoLab 3, a third-floor business hub with seven gaming-theme rooms and 13 meeting spaces; and Espace C2, a 21st-floor rooftop meeting and event space named after the city’s signature festival of innovation. (It still offers traditional meeting venues such as the 17,000-square-foot Place du Canada ballroom.)

We're all about this nontraditional approach to meetings. The goal to inspire business-goers with this type of creative environment really changes the outcome of these gatherings. It encourages efficient and effective problem-solving and more importantly—fun! The space gives you insight on the direction you want to take the experience you're planning. It's so unique and nothing like you've experienced before; you can't go wrong with holding a meeting here!

Espace C2 serves as a C2 Montréal preview with built-in areas that offer teambuilding activities inspired by the conference, which will have its seventh edition May 23 to 25 at the Arsenal. The space can accommodate as many as 220 people in a variety of configurations, and the activities can be customized for particular events. Facilitated by C2 team members, activities include brainstorming exercises in elevated ball pits; a white, multi-sensory “cloud” tent; drawing sessions that use the venue’s windows as canvasses; Lego-building activities; and a room that offers escape room-style puzzles.

Aside from the meeting and event venues, the hotel’s renovation also focused on keeping the interior aesthetic local to the city. The hotel has 123 original pieces of artwork in public spaces and suites, which celebrate Montreal and local Quebec artists. And room 1742, which is famously known as the location of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 Bed-In for Peace, is now open for public tours when it’s not booked.

Innovation is key when it comes to meeting planning. A nontraditional environment leads to creative thinking. We commend the Queen Elizabeth hotel for taking the opportunity to explore this new way of engaging attendees and look forward to seeing other venues devour the details of this up-and-coming trend!