Well, the answer to that is an easy one….COVER! Chair covers are the ultimate decor element. They uniform the room, they allow you to add colour as needed and they’re look can be personalized to suit your wedding or event theme. Plus, since they add lots of decor at eye level, they really are the only decor necessary aside from a nice centrepiece. Everything else is just fluff.

Here are some true life examples from some real weddings before and after the chair cover effect. No words required.

Deep red taffeta bows are the perfect compliment to this heritage building @heritagehallvancouver

Vancouver’s Hellenic Centre with painted gold chiavari style chairs and specialty decor by “Only the Best”

The idea behind using the chairs at your venue as a decor focal point has been around for decades now. Heck, we’ve been in the industry for more than two decades ourselves! And although chair covers have been the default, more and more weddings are opting to go with chiavari chairs instead. Why? Here are some pros and cons for both chiavari chairs and chair covers:

Chiavari chairs look very elegant and are light and easy to move around. That’s basically where the pros end. Now for the cons: chiavari chairs are EXPENSIVE. The venue’s own chairs have to be moved out in order to bring the chiavaris in and they require more labour to truck, stack and place than just decorating the chairs already provided by the venue. Also, they don’t suit all venues. Some spaces are inexpensive to rent, like gyms for example. This is great for the consumer, but they are cheap for a reason and simply adding the really expensive chiavari chairs, makes them look completely out of place. Lastly, chiavari chairs are PLASTIC! Don’t be fooled; they look gold or silver or white but that is just paint over PLASTIC. Also, because they are a PLASTIC chair, more associated decor costs result to “fill” the emptiness of the sparse looking chairs. They are not substantial enough to carry the entire decor, like covered chairs do.

Chair covers on the other hand are the less expensive option. As a result, they don’t offer that WOW factor when people see them in comparison to gold chiavari chairs but that is also one of their major pros. They are AFFORDABLE! When fitted to your venue’s chairs, they look amazing and you can dress them up to suit any wedding colour theme. You can make them look more expensive by simply choosing richer colours or fabrics for your chair cover accents and voila! Add a nice centrepiece and no other decor is needed.

When compared side by side, chiavari chairs offer the WOW factor but nothing more. Chair covers can offer a WOW factor by choosing the appropriate colour and fabric. They are affordable and easy to install and remove (either by DIY or by professionals).

Our opinion? Well, in some cases, chiavaris look amazing but we love the look and feel of luxurious fabric. The flexibility to change your decor look with elegant sash colours or specialty ties by far exceeds the rigidity of the one look chiavari. Save your $ and play with fabric instead.

The great thing about our job is that we are always at someone’s wedding or at someone’s birthday; so, it feels like we are always celebrating a milestone too!  This past July we had the honour of providing chair covers for one lucky young lady whose parents gave her a huge birthday bash at one of our favourite Lower Mainland venues, the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond.

Formerly the Richmond Inn, the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel is a property unlike any new hotel in Vancouver.  It’s sprawling layout, ample parking, and secluded outdoor pool is reminiscent of the 1960′s and 1970′s.  Although its decor is completely modern, the feel of this expansive venue is something both rare and appealing in a retro fashion. The addition of the their new ultra modern Convention and Conference Centre adjacent to the existing hotel, adds even more party and meeting space to this already massive property!

However, that retro feel of the original property was not lost on our birthday girl who decked out her birthday bash in a sunny yellow.  From her ballgown to the balloons, yellow was the word of the day!

The birthday girl continued her yellow theme by choosing ivory banquet chair covers adorned with yellow sparkle organza sashes with …… you guessed it, yellow daisy floral inserts!

Good job on sticking to your theme… Happy Birthday Erin Marie!  And thanks to Eric-g-Carlos for the great pics!!!

If you live in Vancouver, you either love the mountains or you love the sea or even both but you don’t have to be a skier to love the mountains or a sailor to love the ocean.

So, when our bride, Louise, called to talk weddings, she made it very clear that she is not a sailor nor a club member but that she wanted her wedding to mean something and having it with both the ocean and the mountains as a backdrop meant something.  So, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club fit that bill to a “tee”!

With beautiful wood and brass adornments throughout the dining room and windows that look out to an “only in Vancouver” scene, we set out to find the perfect chair cover and sash combination that would speak to this very special first time bride.

After much time and deliberation, our bride made the perfect choice….one that spoke to her, complimented the venue and addressed the view.  And, the result was, well, just as the view itself, breathtaking!

Louise ended up choosing white banquet chair covers with apple green taffeta sashes tied in a double twist side tie ending in a knot.  An intricate tie that was made to resemble the rise and fall of the ocean’s waves.  She was absolutely thrilled with the result!

Thank-you Louise for letting us play with the sashes until we got it just right.  Congratulations!

Great for weddings and special events alike (and voted one of Vancouver’s Top Golf Venues for Weddings) the Vancouver Golf & Country Club, sets a beautiful setting for nature enthusiasts that prefer to stick close to urban amenities.  Nestled in the trees in bustling Coquitlam, B.C., this golf club gives visitors lots of natural beauty with some city views to boot.  What a great location to host that special event.

For example, this past July, we were asked to provide chair covers for the Aga Khan Foundation’s gala dinner at the Vancouver Golf & Country Club in Coquitlam, B.C.  The theme: bling.  The purpose: fundraiser.

When we were asked what we could do to work within their theme, we suggested stark white banquet chair covers with white spandex bands adorned by a “bling” ring ( a rhinestone cuff).

As it turns out, that was the perfect suggestion as the white chair covers worked well with the white ceiling lanterns and the “bling” ring played against the crystal candle holder centrepieces and mirrored table squares perfectly!

A successful display for a successful event.  Congratulations!

Cecil Green – U.B.C. (Feb 14, 2014)

We visit many beautiful wedding venues all over the Lower Mainland on a very regular basis but some always stand out even after having dressed them for the first time or for the 100th time. One such Vancouver wedding venue is Cecil Green at U.B.C.

This wonderfully preserved mansion sits just off the main campus and boasts a spectacular view of its immaculately landscaped ocean front lawn with awesome views of the water.

The building itself is a throwback to the lavish 1920′s and every room in the house echoes a time long gone but not forgotten.

Our last visit to this amazing Vancouver wedding venue was on Valentine’s Day. The bride and groom chose an elegant combination of soft pink and latté coloured sashes to adorn stark white chair chair covers. The subtlety of the decor matched the elegance of the dining room perfectly and the end result was, well, breathtaking!

Gorgeous! The soft muted tones of the dining room, perfectly complimented by the elegant palette of the décor.

Thank-you Cecil Green for making our work look so easy!
And a special thank-you to the folks at Lovely Wedding Studio in Richmond for the fantastic photos of the dining room!