Lunar New Year - Part Deux

YEAR OF THE DOG

From WPIC Alum, Wendy Lee, WPICC, of Asian Fusion Events

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is an annually celebrated holiday period that lasts for 15 days until the Spring or Lantern Festival. If you are to take a poll of all the various Asian populations of the world and where they have immigrated, about 1/6th of the world’s entire population celebrates this special occasion. Lunar New Year is celebrated by not only the Chinese population, but Vietnamese, Malaysian, and more.

This year, the Chinese Zodiac symbol for 2018 is the Dog.

The overarching vision for the shoot was to weave Eastern and Western design threads together, to form a modern interpretation for the Lunar New Year. We featured high end designer luxury items in jux-a-position to mainstream ones. We highlighted old traditional elements with a fresh modern twist. We showcased custom designed pieces with prefabricated ones. Our two designs are complementary and interconnected. This duality gives reference to the Yin and Yang philosophy. However, they can also stand alone and be appreciated for their own individual merits. (See the Blog Post prior to this one for the other Lunar Year of the Dog Photo Shoot.)

Although the Lunar New Year is not necessarily the most popular time to get married, it would make a very practical choice. Many who celebrate this festive occasion; especially in parts of Asia, already have this time scheduled off. This would make attending a wedding celebration in any part of the world much easier. It would also be widely acceptable for a bride to wear a white wedding dress during this wedding.

Natural looking makeup with the perfect shade of pink lipstick and an effortless hairstyle would be a wonderful look for a bride getting married over the Lunar New Year period. If you were hosting a Lunar New Year dinner event, think about how much fun it would be to be colour coordinated with the theme colour of your event. A host may decide to done a custom made bow tie, and a hostess made choose a fabulous cocktail dress for a splendid formal dinner party. Even your canine guests could wear custom made attire as well.

Pink and green are complementary colours on the colour wheel. Therefore pink was the obvious colour choice for the second table top design. The other table top featured pinks, plums and purples, since Ultra Violet is the Pantone colour for 2018. Generally pink is referenced as a “feminine” colour. So again, this was the interplay of the two tables. One was more masculine in terms of colour palette and the other more feminine; Yin and Yang.

The pink and purple table top showcases an abundance of pretty florals. Blooms are significant over the Lunar New Year as it represents the start of another life cycle. Usually blooms on trees signify the ability to bear fruit symbolizing abundance for the new year. This table represents a more traditional style of table. The flatware, China and charger plates were from Bed, Bath and Beyond while the glassware were from Ikea. Again, this table was meant to demonstrate what you can do with your own existing items that you might have received from a bridal shower or as wedding gifts. Decorating does not mean that you necessarily need to rent all your items. You can mix and match what you already own.

Often times, further attention needs to be given to the stationery component to events. For this shoot, an exquisite custom made, multi-layered, laser cut invitation was created. It was then encased in an acrylic box. The level of intricacy would make any invited guest swoon in anticipation of the upcoming event. The initial invitation to any event provides a “sneak peak” or a small window in which guests get a glimpse of what the event will be like. Peering into this magnificent invitation box provides something that is truly representative of the occasion that is going to be celebrated.

Other details for any tabletop includes the place cards, and menu cards.

Chopstick slips were made out of elegant paper and individual place cards marked each place setting.

At the conclusion of any dinner service, many guests look forward to a bite of sweets with coffee and tea. These stunning cakes embody various elements of Asian influenced design. Other sweets that were molded moon cakes were also part of this delightful spread and any guest; young or old would be tempted to taste.