Styled to Inspire: Palm Springs Meets the Connecticut Coast

“Often times, there are design elements that really catapult your inspiration towards your ultimate concept," says Rachel, "In this case, it was a linen that caught my eye from PEAK Event Services named: Stonewall Seafoam. I mean, could the name be any more fitting? The rocky Connecticut coastline paired with the color seafoam as a unifying representation of both ocean and desert elements—perfection!”

“Now that I had my linen base, I started thinking more about the additional colors that I wanted to use as accents. Palm Springs has this notorious peach color that comes to mind when I think of the region. More commercially, it’s the peachy painted stucco exterior of a boutique hotel that has thoughtfully planted cacti all around the gardens. With this peach tone in the mix, Ridgely Calligraphy used gorgeous handmade peach paper and striking white calligraphy for an additional layer of color and texture. Layers of rose gold elements were used in a way that cast a rosy filter over the entire design: chargers, flatware and macaroons all showcased this metallic look. Yup, we said rose gold macaroons—baked and glitzed by the talented Callan Olivia of Sugar Therapy while Tiahna Lynn Photography captured all of these details during the rosiest of golden hours."

"Katie Murphy from Bloom52 Floral Co. was quickly inspired by this bi-coastal concept, and through the use of both sea urchins (coastal) and air plants (desert), the design concept came full circle. The unexpected use of exotic flowers paired with dried elements created an effortless interest. From the invitation suite styling, through to the cake decorating the touches of floral elevated the entire look!"

Tell us about Daylynn Designs and your design aesthetic.

"When I started Daylynn Designs it was really exciting to be able to showcase my design aesthetic with a client focus. Each event is inspired by the stories the client tells or a theme that they share, etc. So, it’s hard to say I have one particular aesthetic because my goal is to make each unique client fulfilled by their design. I imagine I do have a bit of a signature look and style, though. I consider the designs that I conceptualize to be very clean and thoughtful. I’m not a big believer in throw everything at it to make it great. I think that the process of elimination and scaling back until you are left with the most impactful pieces is just so beautiful. I also am a huge fan of pairing things together in an eclectic way. I like to balance out a modern piece with a softer more organic feeling element. Some literal translations of this would be wooden chargers with an ultra-modern flatware or a stark chrome table softened by a puddling, romantic linen runner. To sum it up: less is more and things that don’t traditionally go together really, really do."

What are some of your favorite or go-to PEAK products?

"Linens, hands down. There’s something about linens and the impact that they have at an event so I love to use that as my base. I’m big on using a variety of linens within each event design so I really appreciate the selection that’s offered at PEAK and the ability to go play with the linens in the design showroom. I’m not big on trusting the colors that come through on the computer monitor so being able to set the linens out in natural light and to place each linen next to the other is a huge win in my book. Once I’ve got that set I love to build the rest of my event with as much product as the budget will allow - each layer of china, glassware and flatware adds that little extra something special."

What is your top event design tip?

"Look at the entire space! I feel like some people narrow in on the tables, tabletop items or rental list in general and kind of forget that there are floors that could be covered, draping that could soften the walls or creative floor plans that create visual emphasis. I think that I’ve always found this philosophy to be so valuable since really playing with it in college. When you’re learning to shoot film photography, they tell you to focus on the frame of the image rather than what’s smack dab in the middle. So many of us are trained to look at the center so once you start transitioning your perspective from the small to the all encompassing a whole new world of design opportunities are there to be explored."