June 10, 2010 | Inspired By, Party Planning

Inspired By | The Color Turquoise

For this special event, my company Sofia Crokos Events collaborated with a group of my colleagues to host a cocktail party to start off the new year. Nothing excited me more than to incorporate my favorite color into the overall event design. I have always been drawn to the color blue – primarily turquoise – from my travels to exotic destinations with crystal like turquoise waters. Being of Greek descent, I have spent many summers in Mykonos and Santorini, two islands in the Cyclades that have white washed architecture and various shades of blue that are just dreamy!

Our event was held at The Glass Houses, a very modern venue surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows with spectacular views of the west side of Manhattan. When you have an empty canvas like this venue, its always easy to bring a design together. It’s simple and clean so you can begin your “painting.”

One of my favorite floral designers, Lewis Miller from LMD, created arrangements in the front of the room that guests first saw upon arrival. Turquoise vases were filled with gorgeous white parrot tulips, purple anemones, hyacinth and campanulas. For the table setting, Lewis gave it an eclectic feel by mixing glazed white and turquoise vases with Mexican stone plaques. We placed these on a white lacquer table with a dark turquoise/teal silk runner.

In the restrooms, we paired the popular 4711 German cologne water that has been around for over 200 years with a beautiful antique turquoise vase set on a glass mirror tray. The details of our turquoise event theme followed through even to the restrooms – very important!

Remembering that too much of a good thing can turn into an eyesore, we used the turquoise color sparingly, as an accent only, to give the room some pop. We mixed in colors like purple, soft greens, whites and creams along with some silver touches to break it up.

Other décor elements included a white osorom bench was decorated with lush dark turquoise silk dupioni pillows and a large fabric panel that we made into wall art. We used two types of blue dupioni fabrics and silk ribbons to make a grid pattern to give the room some texture. The modern furniture rentals from Your Green Room included a lush tufted pale turquoise Chester sofa, Sklar floor lamps, Ashton wing chairs, a white square coffee table, side ottomons and an eclectic side round table called the Ari.

And, just for our guests, even the sky above the Hudson River that night was a sexy powdery blue, which we had planned for…of course!

GUEST BLOG by Sofia Crokos of Sofia Crokos Events

Sofia Crokos Events is a highly sought-after event planning and design firm which offers a variety of services to meet a client’s needs. The company works with vendors worldwide to create and produce memorable and exceptional events in New York and destinations around the globe. Contact 212-929-1076 or email for more information.

PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Abby Ross Weddings