my minds churnin' out wine-y thoughts!

So on Friday night FI and I went to the racking party for our wine. This is the third step in the process, and where we pump out the wine in the barrel, then spin the barrel around and dump out the sediment and then pump the wine back into the barrel and leave it on the shelf till March 2009. Yup, MARCH 2009 - with a wedding in September 2009 - that leaves six months for the wine to get over bottle shock and mature for our guests to guzzle it down. So while there (and of course drinking wine a plenty) my thoughts started running rampant about introducing wine into equation a little bit more. Here's what I came up with:
1) instead of using a a pot or a bowl or whatever, I like the idea of using the grape crates as the base. We can mix up what we put in there, whether ferns or cut flowers (using a block of foam to hold it together) or even rocks/stone and succulents
2) using corks scattered around the table with candles
3) using corks with the place cards stuck in the top, littered in a separate box for each table
4) using corks in a vase to elevate the candle
5) using upside-down crates to stack boards for the cupcakes (using a fabric covered board for the display)

ceiling and tent ideas

swatch portraits

I was also thinking that it might be cool to have photos or fabric circles suspended from the ceiling - economic and attractive (and not paper lanterns!!)

I was thinking that it might be cool to include blue "theme" lighting with the typical rope christmas type lighting. Just a few accents up towards the tent ceiling or something....I also think it would go well with twigs twined up and down the poles with the lighting underneath (to act as though the posts are tree trunks

Lighting - courtesy of 7 Degrees (laguana beach ca)