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START AT THE BEGINNING ... “Choosing the right location is indeed the foremost planning decision concerning most brides and grooms,” says Dan Fehlig, director of The Upper Crust and 91, Event Space. “You have to identify the place and date for your celebration before any other questions can be addressed or any vendor can be hired. “Does the space have the right ‘feel’ for your wedding? Are you looking for a classic surrounding? Sleek and modern? Slightly edgy? Is it grand or simple and comfortable? This is unique to you as a couple. The space should complement your sense of style.”
Obviously, the space also should be appropriate to your number of guests. “But if the space is a little larger, you have the opportunity to add beautiful effects. “For example, one of our couples loved a particular Gothic space. It was larger than they needed, but what could have been more beautiful than a hundred feet of floor covered with candle luminaries? It made for a grand entrance into the party and created an ethereal effect. “And here is perhaps the most important question regarding the location: Do you like and trust the people you will be working with?” CELEBRATE YOUR OWN STYLE ... Be guided by your own preferences and traditions in shaping your wedding and your decisions will consistently express your personalities. “This is central to everything we hold important to working with wedding couples,” says Dan. “This is your wedding and it should be unique to you. How could that be accomplished with packages that have been put together for the ease of the purveyor and the ease of making a sale?”
CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT ... “Often a couple prefers that their guests do not have assigned tables. They want everyone up, mingling and dancing. “This is our ‘Supper Buffet’ party. It starts with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, but the hors d’oeuvres don’t stop! A buffet or stations quietly open and are available to your guests throughout the evening.” Another format is “The Standup Dinner.” “People love the cocktail hour and some ask if we can serve hors d’oeuvres throughout the evening. But no matter how many choices you have, the food repetition can get a bit boring after a couple of hours.” They tailor the menu to suit each couple, offering a “wonderful selection” of food ideas. “But if you want to stray, we go running after you with ideas to match your tastes.”
As an example, one recent bride of The Upper Crust was from Ecuador and her groom was from Pakistan. “Together we hit on the idea of offering hors d’oeuvres reflecting traditions from both families.” So they served “her” hors d’oeuvres (including her grandmother’s recipes) and “his” hors d’oeuvres. They also offered a special tray with “their” hors d’oeuvres, empanadas and somosas. Dan tells us it was a “Culinary Kiss” of the two cuisines. Instead, Dan asks you to assemble a file with images illustrating different colors, textures, moods, lighting, and flowers that appeal to you. “Don’t start by trying to design a wedding,” says Dan. “Let your thoughts roam. Lounge at home and rip out pictures that appeal to you. This also frees you to identify your likes and dislikes.” Also, for example, there are many shades of, say, red. “The bride says red, the groom says red and I say red, yet we may all be talking about a different color. But if we communicate over an image, we know we are seeing the same thing.”
It is obvious that Dan includes the groom in the process. “We do everything possible to get the groom as involved as the bride. It is amazing how many great ideas come from the groom when he is assured that the conversation is not merely about flower combinations and shades of pink. When they are asked about their likes and dislikes, the ideas flow.” ONE GROOM'S VISION: “INDUSTRIAL CHIC” ... “For example, I am sure that Madeleine and Hiran, another one of our couples, were equally surprised when we discovered that Hiran, the groom, was very interested in the design. “He brought in images of different patterns and textures, none of which were from bridal magazines. He also had a picture of an interesting feature in an Asian hotel, with a flat surface of crystals hung in straight lines. The result was what members of the team began to lovingly call ‘Industrial Chic’ — clean lines, interesting pattern projections, and minimalist detailing. And Hiran was not a designer. He is in finance.”
Not every space can accommodate your vision. “Always be aware of the context in which the design is going to be placed,” says Dan. “In a sense, the design begins with your selection of a location. Why try to create a clean, contemporary, streamlined design in a Beaux Arts mansion, unless, for example, the playful juxtaposition of modern vs. classic is part of the desired outcome. But, generally, the space for the celebration usually follows the style you are hoping to embrace.” CREATIVE SPACES ... “It is always a delight to work in one of New York’s great loft spaces,” says Dan. “This frees the creative palette, leaving the door wide open to various design solutions. “Couples often think they have to bring in everything, but we make the process as easy as if you were walking into a finished hotel ballroom. The difference is that, with the ballroom, you have to live with the selections already made. With us, you have control over all the details.” The Upper Crust also has something special to offer with their exclusive space, “91.” Located in Greenwich Village by the chic Meat Market Historic District, 91, The Event Space, is unique. “We saw the need for a reception site that honors the smaller wedding celebration. Too often the couple having less than 200 guests is dismissed as not meeting a minimum or the location fee is out of scale. 91 is the perfect solution for the boutique wedding of from 20 to 200 guests.” Divided into two main areas by barrel-vaulted brick arches, 91 offers clean lines, rich cream tones, and a great lighting system. “91 started as an office space,” says Dan. “But as more of our brides began requesting the space for their weddings, we started expanding. Finally, we moved all the offices downstairs, freeing the entire main floor for events.” Their goal of The Upper Crust was to create a totally flexible party environment. “You want to hang special artwork or drapery on the walls? Suspend flowers from the ceiling? Use special tables and chairs? The answer is always yes, and the solutions run far and wide.” For example, 91 bride and groom Kimberly and Josh wanted to fill the room with cherry blossoms. “And why not frame the arches in cherry blossoms, as well,” says Dan, and so they did. ... & CREATIVE COUPLES ... Another 91 couple, Beth & Bruno, had a vision in chocolate brown and green. “They saw huge green leaves floating overhead in lieu of traditional centerpieces and followed their color scheme through to the cake.” “Christina and Per saw a whimsical garden and were enamored with the style of a particular artist. So we hung the artist’s work as a backdrop to the party.” Alicia and Bernie shared a romantic vision about their wedding. “They wanted to feel they were sitting in Central Park at dusk, when all the lights of the city were coming alive. Their New York theme was carried through to the New York postcards they used as response cards, and they also were featured in the design of the party.” Debra and Jeff were married in Jamaica with four friends at their side. Their New York celebration included a renewal of their vows, with all the guests holding candles to light the room. “At the end of the ceremony, the lights came up, the room was red, and we were back on the beach in Jamaica with all their guests singing the traditional reggae song, ‘One Love, One Heart.’ ”
When Dan asked Kerry and Joe to assemble images to help design their party, independent of each other, they both brought in pictures of A-frame houses. “They both loved this style of home in the woods. This inspired their wedding canopy. Then, when their guests sat for dinner, the frame flexed, the lighting changed to night, and the wedding area morphed into the dance floor.”
Chris and Dan were enchanted with bold, almost African colors. Chris had found shawls rich with the colors they loved. “Rather than relying on rented tableclothes to echo the color scheme, I suggested using the shawls as runners on the tables. After the wedding was over, they would walk away with a fabulous collection. Their solutions were striking and minimalistic and, indeed, quite different. Why wouldn’t they be? This fit their style.” Sometimes the answers are simpler, where the bride and groom want a party of studied elegance, with calla lilies in tall vases on each table. This was the case with Jennifer and Adam. “But don’t be fooled, even then there may be little twists. Neither had much interest in a wedding cake. But they loved pies ... miniature pies tiered as a wedding cake.”
WHICH WEDDING TRADITIONS? “While we are studied in the etiquette of all the classic wedding traditions, we consistently recommend only two: the first dance and some ritual around cutting the cake, cupcakes, or pies. We promote these two because often the couple is split in different directions throughout the evening. We think it is great to have two planned photo opportunities where the couple is together, surrounded by the people they love. “The first dance gets the party moving and the cake ceremony can serve another function. A quiet announcement of the cutting of the cake will gently get the attention of your guests. “By the time you have served each other a portion of cake, you almost always have, without demand, garnered everyone’s attention. What a great time for the best man and maid of honor to step up and toast the couple.”
CELEBRATE YOUR CULTURE ... “There are, of course religious and cultural traditions which bring warmth and charm to the celebration. At a Jewish wedding, the hora is always great fun. We make sure to always provide sturdy chairs for the bride and groom being hoisted in the air.” Dan often encourages incorporating family traditions. “Your guests will be thrilled with a view into a ritual new to their experience. For example, Nina’s parents were Japanese. The Shinto wedding ceremony offered the New York natives a view into a tradition with which they had no exposure. “What could be more charming than having the Korean bride and her mother in traditional dress greet their guests? Miyuki switched into her bridal gown just before walking down the aisle.”
The Chinese ceremony, where the couple serves their parents tea, is interesting to guests and honors the parents. “Maisie made a dramatic transformation from her white gown to her red qipao, a tightly fitted Mandarin wedding dress, for the first dance. For Maisie and Josh we also created a light projection of the Double Happiness calligraphy, an ancient Tang dynasty symbol representing good fortune to the couple. “The magic is in the details. We explore all the possible details and special services with our clients.”
A THEATRICAL BACKGROUND ... Hailing from St. Louis, Dan came to New York with a theater degree and the dream of singing and dancing across the Broadway stages. “But in the process I became fascinated with all the design elements that make up the world we live in. Off I went to get a degree in architecture.” He also worked in some of the top New York restaurants. The culinary and service world became another passion. “How does one weave together theater, architecture, and hospitality? I helped a friend with a dinner event involving corporate heads and English nobility. I had never seen this style of entertaining. It was thrilling, planned in detail, and quite elegant.” “What is most exciting about throwing a wedding is the marvelous relationship formed with the wedding couple. What an honor it is to be such a major participant in the most important entertaining event in their life.” The Upper Crust / 91, Event Space |
