The Hit List: Our Top Events of 2014

A sampling of our talent at HMR Designs

From our fragrant, stem-packed floral studio to our sawdusted woodshop; over the thrum of sewing machines and through the evasive aroma of our paint room; amidst spinning signage and banana chandeliers, there is truly never a dull moment here at HMR.
A sampling of our talent at HMR Designs

This is just the way we like it, too, so to close the year with a bang, we bring you our creatives’ picks for their top events of 2014.
Let’s party…

31 DECEMBER 2013- RIVER EAST ART CENTER
Technically speaking, this wedding just barely makes the 2014 cut. Exceptions are often made for exceptional things, though. From New Year’s Eve 2013, the final wedding at the lofty River East Art Center, and a color palette that defines ‘easy-on-the-eyes,’ this beauty kicks off our Best of 2014 collection.

Chicago Wedding at REAC by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Big City Bride / Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

18 FEBRUARY 2014-THE GREAT HALL, UNION STATION
Not all corporate celebration are all business. What better way to beat the cabin fever of the midwest than with air hockey, pool, foosball, adult bouncy houses, and our personal favorite: a custom built duck pond for a raffle. Even if just for a night, this playfully chic celebration took everyone’s mind off of the February Polar Vortex.

Union Station corporate event by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Blue Plate / Kent Drake Photography

1 MARCH 2014-FOUR SEASONS
Inspired by the transition of the seasons, guests began celebrating in icy cool elegance amidst a custom birch ski rack and bursts of iced branches. All of this melted gorgeously into spring, bringing the luxuriant foliage of a fresh meadow indoors for the reception.

Spring themed wedding at Four Seasons by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Birch Design Studio / Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

8 MARCH 2014-FOUR SEASONS
If the lush white hydrangea climbing the snow-dusted branches of this aisle don’t warm you up to the idea of a winter wedding, it’s quite possible that nothing will. This striking, sapphire ceremony transitioned into a vivid reception rich with cherry blossoms and radiant orchids.

Winter to spring wedding at Four Seasons by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Reva Nathan & Associates / Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

17 MAY 2014-THE GREAT HALL, UNION STATION
Never before have tires been so sophisticated. Our Art team worked around the clock to make sure that this milestone celebration for a fleet company was magnificently “tired.” Custom bars, tabletops and lamps, as well as signage and serving trays paired with lush carpet and resplendent lighting to transform the Great Hall at Union Station.

Luxe corporate by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Birch Design Studio / Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

13 JUNE 2014-CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN
Our fabric team truly flexed their muscles for this summer gala, fully adorning a tent at the Chicago Botanic garden with panels and lamp shades in patterns galore. In the words of our Creative Director Bill Heffernan, “Never before has green and white felt so fresh and modern.”

Lush gala decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

21 JUNE 2014-THE MODERN WING AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
What better way to kick off summer in Chicago than the Magritte exhibit at the Art Institute?  And what better reward for a challenging month of production than a most enchanting result? In the words of Event Producer Chris Mills, “the suspended, lifelike clouds perfectly captured the whimsy of Magritte.”

Magritte Gala decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

21 JUNE 2014-PRIVATE FARM, LIBERTYVILLE, ILLINOIS
Setting up shop in mowed crop circles, our team worked alongside Argentine chefs to execute a unique cultural dining experience outdoors involving seven fires in the ground: Siete Fuegos. The decor: simple and inviting; the weather: miraculously cooperative; and the experience: not to be forgotten.

Outdoor culinary festivities with decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Blue Plate Catering

15 AUGUST 2014-MORGAN MANUFACTURING CO.
From gigantic signage and graphic art to draped Amaranthus to statuesque drag queen ushers, everything about this wedding was colored with originality. Gorgeously, refreshingly fun, this one is proof that your wedding should be every bit as unique as you.

Original and innovative wedding design by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Planning by Linda Alpert / Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

30 AUGUST 2014-MORGAN MANUFACTURING CO.
In keeping with this mitzvah’s theme: all you need is love…well, love, and lots and lots of ribbon. Wirey and wordy, whimsical and out-of-the-box, glitter and gold has never been so buoyant.

Unique mitzvah decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Planning by Amanda Weil / Frost Lighting / Entertaining Co. / Fandl Photography

27 SEPTEMBER 2014-CHICAGO ILLUMINATING COMPANY
The fabrication of an original lamp design trademarked this inventive, ultramarine celebration. This handsome celebration serves as a reminder that focals come in all shapes and materials, and that repetition of a form can have a major visual impact on a space.

Stunning lighting by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

4 OCTOBER 2014-FIELD MUSEUM
A beautiful experiment in texture and pattern, this wedding combined unique floral, extraordinary lighting, and eclectic tabletop design to create an intimate, energetic feel to the vast, historic Stanley Field Hall. Not your everyday affair, this one reminds us all to let our self expression shine through in our style.

Unique wedding decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: LK Events

18 OCTOBER 2014-WESTIN O’HARE
Stunning in both scope and appearance, this wedding felt drenched in luxury. In the words of Designer John Hensel, “this was the result of what happens when you get to fill a space with 20,000 stems of orchids.”

Luxury wedding decor by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

1 NOVEMBER 2014-HILTON CHICAGO
Gigantic masses of platinum Camelia foliage, along with a hand-painted silver backdrop established a lustrous glow for a this milestone celebration. The Hilton ballroom truly buzzed with a magical, almost magnetic energy.

Gorgeous gala by HMR Designs
Collaboration: Frost Lighting / Kent Drake Photography

 

If it’s not already clear, we’re always having a ball. We’d like to thank ALL of our partners for their consistently professional talent.
Special thanks to Kent Drake Photography & Fandl Photography for the shots in this blog: your work is worth a thousand words and then some.

And of course, CHEERS to our entire outfit, from floral to wood to warehouse to paint to art to graphics to to lighting to fabric to vinyl to production to design to accounting to operations to reception to housekeeping to IT to marketing to development to HR to maintenance to transport to processing to installation to dismantle: we make a great team.
Happy New Year from the entire HMR Family.  Here’s to an even brighter 2015.