Colin Cowie is a fantastic event designer – I sincerely admire and appreciate his beautiful and detailed work! I’m sure many of you have seen Colin’s show, “Get Married with Colin Cowie” on Lifetime.

I found an elegant and inspiring photo of a reception on Colin’s website today to share with you. This French style reception is located outdoors in a beautiful tent that has been set up with sheer tulle walls and a drop ceiling to cover all of the poles and electrical wires. The tulle walls allow a more intimate feeling within the tent, while also allowing shadows of the landscaping to filter through.

The chandeliers add such a beautiful ambiance to the tent, providing a small amount of light and sparkle, while drawing your eyes upward – and creating a sense of balance of dark and light colors. Also the dark metal on the chandeliers coordinates well with the dark wooden chairs, and is a great contrast with the white and ivory flowers and table cloths. The hanging crystals soften the look of the metal, and make the chandeliers appear more feminine in style.

An interesting effect that Colin created is an under glow coming from the table cloths, by putting lighting under the tables. This has added a significant amount of lighting to the space, where it would have been quite dark without it. This adds an entirely new element to a dimly lit tent reception.

Ivory pillar candles adorn the table, sitting on top of dark bronze metal pillar holders. Each long table includes two large pedestal flower arrangements, and three small clustered flower arrangements all in neutral colors of soft antique peach/pink, white and ivory.

Overall, the beautiful décor and unique lighting elements have made this French style wedding reception one worthy of sharing with you.