Results for Behind the Scenes Tag

Preston Bailey Tulips & Pansies Flowers Floral

VILLAGECARE’S TULIPS & PANSIES: THE HEADDRESS AFFAIR

What a night! Yesterday evening my team and I had the privilege of once again participating in the annual Tulips & Pansies fundraiser for VillageCare, a wonderful nonprofit organization serving older adults, people living with HIV/AIDS and those in need of medical and rehabilitation services. The annual benefit includes a silent auction as well as [...]

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Wedding Industry Etiquette Making Money

THE ONE MISTAKE YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE

(Image via John C Abell) Most of the wedding designers, wedding planners, wedding photographers, and other wedding vendors I meet and work with are very talented. And talent, well, that’s the hard part. So it has always struck me that vendors who have the hard part down (the skills!) are sometimes so bad at the [...]

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Preston Bailey Wagner College Event Planning Design

A BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR OF MY STUDIO WITH WAGNER COLLEGE

Last week, a group of talented Wagner College students who are currently enrolled in my Signature Wedding and Event Design course visited me and my team at our New York City offices. I’m so inspired by other wedding and event designers, but especially those that are young and just starting out. Their perspective is fresh, [...]

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Balance, control

FAQS: How Do You Deal with a Client Who Only Wants to Buy a Piece of the Pie?

(Image via internets_dairy ) My partner, singer-performer Theo Bleckmann, gave me a great analogy: He said that it’s like saying to a singer, “You sing only the high notes. I’ll take care of the rest.” In other words, it’s as though your client were saying, “I want to get it as cheap as possible, and [...]

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Showing Respect to Nature

REMINDER: It Isn’t Your Event, It’s Your Client’s

(Image via gwaar ) I wonder if this ever happens to you… you start working for a specific client, and you have such a clear vision of what the event should look like that you catch yourself thinking, “I know best.” This has happened to me many times, especially when I also happen to love [...]

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Preston and his employees watching presentations

Mentoring Design Students

A couple weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a group of FIT students in my office to present their final concepts for Dining by Design’s Student Design Initiative by DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). I met with four groups of students, each with their own unique ideas for their installations. Here are [...]

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goldfish, bowl, my top 10 worst mistakes

Common Mistakes: My 10 All Time Worst Mistakes

I have often been asked what my worst mistakes are. Being in the industry for over 30 years, I could write a book called Preston’s Screw Ups. However, in the hope that you do not make the same mistakes, here are my 10 all time worst mistakes going from bad to worse. 10. I think [...]

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Purple and White Bouquet

Question for the Floral Designers

Today I’ll like to reach out to all you floral designers and floral aficionados. I need your help. Presently, I am finishing my fifth book called Preston Bailey Flowers. The main topic, of course, is flowers. I fell in love with the perfection of flowers over 30 years ago, and am still in awe at [...]

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Christmas, celebrations, candy centerpieces, candy balls, ribbons, beads,table settings, draping, green, red, striped candy

Holiday Table Inspiration

We created these holiday tables for a segment I just did on the Today Show all about using candy and wrapping paper as decor items. I wanted to share some behind the scenes images of the tables as well as a few tips. These candy towers were made using peppermint candies (the small mints, as [...]

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set up, white, table setting,covered chairs, ceremony, plates, elegant, chic, curtains, drapping

Time for Thanksgiving!

Today, we’re really busy getting my all White Thanksgiving table for my 50 friends and family, so this will be a short post. We have the perfect giveaway (which I’ll share with you next week!) Thank you to you all, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! What are you most looking forward to eating tomorrow? As [...]

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Thanksgiving prep, Tamales, asparagus, food, dish, traditional, recipe, green

Thanksgiving Preparation

Without question, one of my favorite parts of planning for the holidays is when we start thinking about food and decor (basically, now). This year, I am having about 50 friends and family members over for Thanksgiving dinner, and after doing practically every color under the sun for past Thanksgivings, I’m thinking about creating the [...]

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office, children, florists, designers, NY, families, mirror,photo

Future Florists and Designers of New York

Several times throughout the year, we get groups of students who visit the office for a learning session. Sometimes this is a talk, a walk-through or an actual lesson. Today, I want to share you with one of my favorite groups of kids who recently visited the office. Ladies and gentlemen, here are some future [...]

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Junior and Juliana's Photo

Baby Shower for a Baby Daddy

I always wonder what happens in those all-female baby showers since men are not allowed. This is why we thought about starting an all-new tradition for the “baby daddies” of the world. One of our own employees, Junior, was expecting a baby which sparked the idea for us. Junior started working for me when he [...]

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Preston Blogging, website, communication, interaction, followers

Frequently Asked Questions: Do you write your own blog posts?

This is a familiar sight for most folks who walk into my office. Yes, I do. Even with my poor grammar (forgive me folks, English is my second language), I write my blog posts. Of all the different aspects of my business, I really do prefer blogging. I have several reasons: Let’s face it. Change [...]

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The Preston Touch

Why the Preston Touch?

Lilit’s mother Olga, Me and Lilit Today, I’m so happy to be sharing with you a project that has been near and dear to my heart: The Preston Touch. I have always wanted to reach out and help deserving brides celebrating their “big day” so when me and my team came together to discuss ideas [...]

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floral tiger, behind the scenes, production, process, flowers, design, innovative, tiger prints, orange, black

Common Mistakes: Production Snafus

I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that producing a job is one of the most exciting yet nerve-wracking aspects of the event industry. I can not tell you the amount of times, when I first started, that guests would walk in on me and my staff rushing to finish the job. We were doing [...]

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Love Comes From Unexpected Places

The happy couple: Jessie and Kay (Photo via) Today is the first spring-like day in New York city and it puts me in the mood to think about love. Like the title says, it really can come from unexpected places. For example, two of my favorite floral designers, Jessie and Kay, made a love connection [...]

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Set-up, detail, photo

More Pictures of the Set-up

Too busy to write a full post today, so here are more pictures of the set-up: I’ll post more pictures of the party tomorrow!

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Setup,Celebration, Tent,Transformation

The Set-up: A Celebrations Transformation

It’s only one day before the big Celebration! I was very torn in choosing a space for the event–in these economical times I didn’t want to give a party that was too slick, so it was essential to find the right venue. I love the Armory because it’s a raw, empty space that sort of [...]

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Conversation with: Ira Levy

Today’s interview is with Ira Levy, founder of Levy Lighting. Ira has worked with me on many past events, infusing my designs with his brilliant lighting sensibilities and creative touch. We talked about different lighting techniques, how to stay innovative in the industry, lighting trends for 2010 and so much more. Plus, don’t miss the [...]

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