We are so excited to share details from our Second Annual Design Challenge! The event was hosted at The Saint Elle and our theme this year was “Nashville Neighborhoods”. The participating planners were broken up into four teams and assigned a neighborhood for inspiration. The four areas were East Nashville, Belle Meade, Broadway, and Germantown.

Each team chose items from our rentals sponsor, Southern Events to bring their table to life. They also had the option to bring in florists, stationers, and other decor companies in town to complete the overall design.

Michael Glance, the beverage director at The Saint Elle, created a drink inspired by each table. We invited many of our Nashville wedding industry friends to attend a happy hour, with lite bites from Flavor Catering. Everyone was able to walk around each table and view the details then vote on their favorite. We also shared photos on Instagram of each table for our followers to vote on!

The table with the most votes and the winner of this year’s challenge was team Belle Meade! Check out their table and all the designs for this year below!

Thank you to ALL of our Event Sponsors!

East Nashville

Our team channeled East Nashville through the historic craftsman-style homes and the modern tall skinnies while keeping the design bright and fun to honor the uniqueness and many faces of East Nashville! We featured bright and bold printed napkins to mimic murals and funky textures all around to tie it all together.

Contributing Planners:

Table Sponsors:

Belle Meade

Our team design began with an idea from Lindsy Read, with Music City Events / Read Event House, to use patterned linen with gold flatware. Briana London, with Events by Briana, took a very traditional style and added a touch of modernity, keeping it fresh and appealing. She had the idea to pair our design with a Mint Julep with a spring Derby spin. Lindsy has an exceptional eye for detail and is able to elevate a theme to high style. She took the horse theme and found inspiration to keep it refined. Megan, with Locklane Weddings & Events, focused on the personal side of design and she turned toward the historic plantation for additional inspiration. Horses are the heart of Belle Meade and she chose to honor Bonnie Scotland by using him for the table name. His image was also reflected in the menu cards. Megan found historic names to use for each place card, small nods to the past. The florist, Meg with The Florista, added another layer by using traditional urns for the centerpieces that reflected the garden urn at Belle Meade Plantation. Meg also mirrored the gold and smoky pieces that Briana chose for the place settings in her candle arrangements. Briana added the last element, a beautiful mirror backdrop that kept your eye moving and defied the idea of boring.

Contributing Planners:

Table Sponsors:

GERMANTOWN

When considering a Germantown theme, we wanted to honor the rich architecture of the neighborhood while also highlighting the more modern style of those that live there. We bridged the new apartments and houses with the old, historic look. Incorporating bricks as the “runner” for the table felt right. We also added bold, black lanterns as a nod to the more industrial and urban look. To incorporate the modern-ness, we decided to add vibrant, bold flowers interspersed with lots of candles. Our place settings were inspired by straight lines and shapes seen in Germantown architecture. And who can go wrong with a Tempered chocolate at each place setting?

Contributing Planners:

Table Sponsors:

Broadway

Our team consisted of Posh Occasions, Elizabeth Wright Events, and As We Gather Events. Our Broadway design honed in on neon, honky tonks and X shaped sidewalks. After we decided to do 4 tables in an X, we decided to name the tables after famous businesses on the Broadway strip. Each table was designed with that business's colors and design elements like horses for Wildhorse Saloon, tulips for the Orchid Lounge at Tootsies, flamingoes for Paradise Park, and records for Ernest Tubbs. Special thank you to The Laughing Petal for the floral elements including the floral install on a record player. And thank you to Nash Neon for the oh so fun neon sign rentals hanging from the ceiling over the tables to bring that wow factor. Thank you to Southern Events for the beautiful table, chair, and tabletop rentals. Finally, thank you to White Ink Calligraphy for the name cards and table name signs. While we didn't win, we were super proud of the finished product and the FUN and BRIGHTNESS that was brought to the competition!

Contributing Planners:

Table Sponsors:

Stay tuned for next year’s challenge and please let us know if you would like to be an event sponsor!