A Labor of Love....

As Valentine’s Day is around the corner, LOVE is on our minds!! Weird, it may be, but I was thinking back on something that took a TON of love from our staff last year.

December 5, 2009, the SEC Championship was in Atlanta and we had the privilege of doing the event décor for the welcoming reception at the Georgia Aquarium. Our event designer, Sophia Lin, always comes up with new ideas and different ways to use ordinary materials. When she showed the ALE staff the picture of this gorgeous environmentally friendly chandelier, we all thought she was so innovative.

Little did Sophia know that the six 20’ chandeliers that she proposed to our client would ever touch so many people’s hands!! First, we had to gather over 8,000 2-Liter and 20 oz. plastic bottles. Then, our wood shop workers cut each of the bottles to form the flower shape!Next, two holes had to be punched in all the bottle bottoms. After A LOT of broken hole punchers, we thought of the idea of using a soldering iron to melt the holes in the bottles. Then the process of stringing began….. We strung, and we strung, and we strung until we couldn’t string anymore!!! Next, we tied the many strands of bottles onto the steel wheel and finally it was near completion!
The end result was stunning and our client was beyond ecstatic about the outcome. All of the Florida and Alabama fans had no clue that something that they enjoyed all night was built by a team of 40+ people. Till this day, we have not had anything that took as much time, effort and LOVE as those chandeliers!! Happy Valentine’s Day and we hope that you find something to put lots of LOVE into!!