4th of July

4th of July, baby! That means it's time to celebrate the birth of our sweet country with fireworks, cookouts, and water activities!  Let's kick off this 4th of July planning fest with a little color palette selection...

The Colors:
Each event you host should have a standard color scheme to work from. This will allow you to grab eye-catching pieces to showcase in your table arrangements, or favors around the design space. No need to worry, the sales team at The Prop Shop took a minute and pulled some of their favorite color palettes to share with you for your 4th of July Bash ...

Nowhere near as much as we shared with you for our Father's Day inspiration, but really it wouldn't be July 4th without our good old red, white, & blue colors. Now let's move into some of our favorite creative food ideas.

The Fun Food:
A great and creative party planner can put some awesome twists on your ordinary cookout foods. After many hours of drooling all over our keyboards, we found these extra cute food choices to help you celebrate the 4th in style.

Don't you just love the power of Pinterest? We could pull and post ideas for 4th of July food all day but instead, let me direct you over to our Pinterest Search : 4th of July Foods.  

The Decor:
No need to worry, we wouldn't leave you out in the cold on the decorations. After contemplation, we think The 4th of July is more of a D.I.Y.-decor kind of event. So again after tons of searching, we found these simple yet heartwarming decor ideas for your 4th of July party.

Do you see what we did there? Everyday household items can be turned into prideful and patriotic decorations! 

  • Using old blue water/wine glass bottles as flower or flag vases.
  • Getting cheap little American flags and staging them all over the place.
  • Pull out that Cricut machine you just had to have. Cut some stars, grab last night's veggie cans from dinner, wash them well and then cover them in paper for fork and knife holders.
  • Come on now, it wouldn't be American without a hand-painted Mason jar! Make sure after your paint is dry you go back with a small piece of sandpaper and sand down the paint on the lettering for that true vintage feel.

Man, is it just me or is this year's 4th looking really awesome?!? Well have f.... JUST KIDDING. I couldn't complete this post without showing you my all-time favorite idea for a 4th of July tablescape...

So simple it's mind-blowing! This planner used the blue camping plates along with red and blue kitchen towels for napkins and the amazing red polyester tablecloth.

I love it! So simple but so visually powerful. 
Happy Planning Fans!
Erica HIldebrandt


A Refreshing Summer in The Prop Shop!

It's finally summertime around The Prop Shop, which can mean several different things,

1. It's FINALLY Wedding Season!
2. #1 means we are super busy all week long!
3. We love the AC in our office!
4. We tend to get a little behind on our Blog posts.

No need to worry, now that I have a little breathing room I am catching everyone up at once! Starting with this Refreshing Summer Showroom display we have had in the office for almost a month now.

This month we wanted to show off something simple with a pop of color. So we picked white, black, and pink as our color palettes to work from. Where did this color choice come from, you ask? Well to be honest, I was rooting around our display room (that's our extra office that we now use to store all of our display table pieces) and found these super awesome lanterns in pink and white. BAM! A color palette was born. I knew I wanted to showcase these lanterns in our table display so I used them to start building our tablescape.

First, I took different size and color lanterns and hung them from our showroom ceiling, mixing and matching the colors, sizes, style and length from the top to add a visual showpiece. I did have a fixed light already hanging over the show table area, so I had to work alongside the length of that light to not block the light coming from it, and to not get the paper lanterns too close making them a huge fire risk. Ideally after completing my little hanging of the lanterns project, I would have been able to hang them a little closer to the table for a little more atmosphere but it still looks good.

Then I set to work on a tablescape. In the last month, we have had an increasing number of calls for white table linens. We are not 100% if this is the beginning of a trend or not because clients think our white linens are cheaper than our colored selections (by the way, they're the same price), but this quickly prompted the use of a standard white 90' x 132' poly tablecloth, with our beautiful black and white Stripped table runner. Then, it was a no-brainer to add our gold chargers (rent for $1), gold-rimmed dinner plate and to top it all off with our black napkins and silver dinner fork, dinner knife, and teaspoon.

Here's the break down of all the items used in this month's Showroom's Main Table;

  • 6ft banquet table : $8.00
  • 90" x 132" White Poly Tablecloth : $18.00
  • 12" x 108" Black/White Table Runner : $5.00
  • Garden Padded Seat Folding Chairs - Natural Wood : $3.65
  • Balloon Pink PolyStrip Chair Sash : $2.00
  • Fushia PolyStrip Chair Sash : $2.00
  • Gold Charger : $1.00
  • Gold Rimmed Dinner Plate : $0.50
  • Black Cottonique Napkin : $0.60
  • Silver Dinner Fork : $0.55
  • Silver Dinner Knife : $0.55
  • Silver Tea Spoon : $0.55
  • Martini Glass : $0.50
  • High Ball Glass : $0.50

True to my fashion, this is not the only table I put together for this month's showroom. I took a little more time to show how the exact same color pattern could be used in a whole new way. I designed a sweetheart table in our front window.

By starting with a 108" round poly tablecloth, then draping a 60" x 60" lace overlay on top I was able to add in the colors and feel from our first table but with a slightly high taste perspective. I then brought in our gold chiavari chairs with black cushions and added a pop of pink with our napkins and gold chargers.

Here are all the rentals we are using in this month's sweetheart table.

  • 36" Round table : $ 7.25
  • 108" Round Black Poly Table Cloth : $ 14.50
  • 60" x 60" White Lace Overlay : $10.00
  • Gold Chivary Chair with Black Cushion : $8.00
  • Gold Charger : $1.00
  • Pink Cottonique Napkin : $0.60
  • Silver Dinner Fork : $0.55
  • Silver Dinner Knife : $0.55
  • Silver Tea Spoon : $0.55
  • Champagne Glass : $0.50
  • All Purpose Glass : $0.50

Enjoy!
Erica Hildebrandt


Father's Day with The Shop!

It's officially the start of the Father's Day Weekend. Here around The Prop Shop we love holidays. From the fun children's activities, cookouts, and table settings, we just can't get enough of the planning and decor! This month we celebrate all of the great fathers in our lives, and here around the shop we want to help you with the last minute preparations for your family gathering to celebrate that special dad.

The Colors:
Each event you host should have a standard color scheme to work from. This will allow you to grab eye-catching pieces to showcase in your table arrangements or favors around the design space. No need to worry, the sales team at The Prop Shop took a minute and pulled some of their favorite color palettes to share with you for your Father's Day Gathering....

Whether the Dad you are celebrating is a Bright/Bubbly Dad or Dark/Strong Dad, you can't go wrong with one of these great tone cards from our friends over at Design Seeds. Once you have your colors selected, move onto the place setting just right for Father's day.

The Place Setting:
Every party or gathering should have a go-to place setup. You wouldn't want something too fancy for a Backyard BBQ or paper plates for a gala.  And there is no reason to pull out all the 5-star china for dad, he really wouldn't care. But, let's show that we (as the party planners) do care and want to give dad a great setting to feast from.
 

Something simple will please dad: a plate, fork, knife, and napkin...

And when you want to go a little above and beyond on the decorating, do we have just the right inspiration below.

The Decorations:
 Any party isn't complete without the full-out decorations to celebrate the guest of honor. After many hours of Pinterest searching, our Sales team has come up with these great Father's Day ideas for your party!

Let me wrap it up with a Happy Father's Day to all the awesome dads out there!
:) Erica



Fall in love with Chargers.

Formal sit down dinners are sadly becoming a thing of the past here in the Richmond area. We see it all the time on TV and commercials; people getting together for a great night of friends and food, seeing the seated dinner with a beautiful tablescape and lots of great times in the making.  But why have we lost the desire for formal gatherings either as a formal wedding reception or even a great night with friends?

Today I hope to ignite that spark for the formal fun once again with some great chargers to love.

Most people can honestly say they don't know the true history or meaning behind a charger plate. In North America we came to call these larger plates chargers after the Middle English word "chargeour". Formally, a charger is not for food service, the charger signifies a larger platter.

They are usually larger than most common dinner plates and since they are not used for food, chargers are made from a large variety of materials from traditional china, metal, wood, glass, plastic, or even pearl. These chargers can be decorated with hand carvings, painted images, and other largely decorative items.

Charger etiquette and use varies. Some professional catering companies like to remove the decorative charger plate as the guests are seated. In other instances, when the design of charger plates complements the design of dining plates, charger plates are left on the table throughout the course of the meal. However, charger plates are always removed before serving desserts.

With that said, let's go over the proper way to use a charger plate at today's wedding or party. Place your charger of choice at each guest’s place setting. Set it in between the arranged flatware and below the glassware. Chargers should be two feet from one another to give guests enough elbow room.

You can align a menu card, cloth napkin, or the guest's place cards in the middle of the charger plate for use before the dinner service. Once your guests are served and ready to be served, their soup bowl, salad plate, or dinner plate is placed directly on top of the charger. The charger plate is then cleared with the dinner plate before the service of dessert, if you choose. Some couples like to leave their special chargers through dessert to not mess up the overall design of the tablescape.

At your next upscale wedding or dinner party you won't go wrong with using these simple charger plate etiquette rules.

  • Charger plates should always be placed and ready when your guests arrive.
  • Chargers are always removed from the table after all guests are finished eating the main entrée. Chargers should then be taken away with the dinner plate still on top, as this clears the table and leaves it ready for dessert to be served. 
  • Chargers can be removed once all guests are seated or they may remain on the table throughout the entire length of the meal.
  • Place charger plates one inch away from the bottom edge of the table, and about 2 feet apart to create the perfect alignment.
  • Never serve food directly on top of a charger plate, unless it is coated in a food-safe material.

Then there are always tons of extra ways to use a charger around Parties and homes and decorations. If you scoot on over to our Prop Shop Party Rentals - Pinterest Page to see all the Charges we have fallen in love with and some great ideas from what to turn these chargers into.

I hope this has helped to spark your planning bug for the next formal dinner function hosted by you or friends and family. If you need a little more help planning your next formal event please contact one of the lovely sales ladies in The Prop Shop Sales room for inspiration or help.

Happy Thursday Planning!
:) Erica Hildebrandt



Spring Cleaning Sale!

We all get the bug to clean out the old and unused to make way for the new finds from our warmer month adventures. Here at The Prop Shop we are just the same! Over the last several weeks we have spent many man-hours looking through our warehouse for the lost gems that we once used to rent.

Today kicks off the start of our Spring Cleaning Sale with a few of the larger items we are now offering for you to take home and keep! 

SOLD! -- Our once very popular Fireplace. Still in a strong usable condition. This piece does have the wear and tear of years and years of rentals but with a little love could still be used for plays, portraits, or as a holiday decorative piece. -- $SOLD

A life size Egyptian statue. With a wooden base and styrofoam structure this piece is great for theme parties or school fairs.  Condition is not perfect but this piece still has a lot of years to give.-- $15  

Our very own DIY Nut Crackers.  Made from sheet metal and other household odds and ends these gentlemen have been crafted for indoor or outdoor and are very light weight. We currently have 3 available for sale. -- $15 each

All sales will need to be made during normal business hours of 9am to 5pm Monday thru Friday and 9am to 12noon on Saturdays. Pickup from our Richmond warehouse only, sorry no delivery is available. All sales are final and only Cash will be excepted. 

For more information on these items or to schedule a pick up time please contact Erica at 804-228-1100 or Erica@propshoppartyrentals.com

Please make sure you check back next week for our next lot of Spring Cleaning Sale items.
Have a happy Friday!

 :) Erica Hildebrandt

Spring in the Prop Shop

Today is such a blah day around the capital city with the heavy cloud cover and fits of rain, but here at The Prop Shop we are showing off some of the beautiful colors of Spring with our showroom display this month.

This month's showroom design is made up of 2 3-foot-round tables covered in peach table linens and set for 6 guests with our beautiful mahogany chiavari chairs. Our tables are set with silver flatware, square china, purple napkins, ice tea and champagne glassware. 

We have also set up a lovely hot tea and coffee station in the office. Our 50 cup samovars sits nicely alongside the silver tea kettle, silver milk and sugar caddies, and our glass Irish coffee glass.

We are also very lucky to have some very beautiful silk floral arrangements in the office this month from Shana at the Sassy Snapdragon Florals.  She handcrafted 3 beautiful arrangements for us to use in our table settings this month.

Shana Stewart | Owner 804.317.0167 SassySnapdragonFlorals.com

Shana Stewart | Owner
804.317.0167
SassySnapdragonFlorals.com

We are already busy working on a new fun and exciting idea for May and can't wait to share it with you in a few short weeks.

Happy Tuesday!

All photos are provided by one of our in-house photographers Erica Hildebrandt from Hildebrandt Photography.

Tuckahoe Plantation's Winter Visit

January 22, 2015

          January around The Prop Shop is filled with bridal shows, networking events, DIY projects, and bridal meetings. But around the office, we ladies like to know the real story behind all of the lovely vendors we get to work with in the warmer months of the year.

          So to start off our New Year we called over to our friends at The Tuckahoe Plantation and set up a Historic Tour of the property! Although the weather was chilly we were thrilled to learn a little more about one of Richmond’s original plantations.

We started our tour in on the beautiful South Lawn overlooking the James River. Our tour then took us to the breath-taking Gardens. Then we ended our tour in the all original and preserved home that sits right in front of the Tuckahoe Plantation property. But no pictures of that, we wanted to save the best part for you to check out on your own.

Hey, that’s us in front of the Plantation!

Did you know the Plantation is a pet friendly wedding venue? We loved seeing all the little fur babies accompany us through the grounds as we learned so much great Richmond History.

          To set up your own historic tour of the Historic Tuckahoe Plantation check out their website  http://www.tuckahoeplantation.com/visit/

And please don’t forget to donate your $5 to help keep Tuckahoe Alive for our future generations!