Aye Ye Land Lubbers!

Arrrgghhhh! Last week I had the extreme joy of adding pirate decor to the Cooper Booth Wholesale Trade Show, hosted at the Toyota Arena, York Fairgrounds. About 130 vendors gather to showcase their merchandise for clients of Cooper Booth Wholesale during this event. Ace the Party Place and I were asked to provide some frivolity to this pirate themed event.

Guests gathered for registration in the lobby prior to entering the arena, where they were greeted by a 7' x 13' pirate map (created by yours truly) and a 4'x4' authentic pirate greeting. Adding barrels, courtesy of Grand Events, palms (courtesy of Royers Flowers) and coins and jewels, along with various fabrics, we were able to create quite a welcoming sight for the land lubbers arriving that morning!

Guests entered the arena and were corralled by our chrome stanchions and velour ropes, topped with holey cloth adding an authentic pirate feel to the entry. To the right of the entry was a massive pile of pirate loot, comprised of a trio of antique treasure chests, jewels, coins, fabrics and various trinkets. To add a bit of whimsy to this vignette, we incorporated a dressed pirate wench mannequin. The entire vignette was completed with luscious green palms.

The Cooper Booth Wholesale company raffles off quite a few fabulous prizes throughout the event, and we provided them with a really fun prize table. We used an 8' table flanked by two 6' round tables, topped with custom pirate masts. These masts measured about 10' tall and added a fabulous note of height to the area.

As guests meandered through the event, they were greeted by our functioning robotic pirate mannequin, housed in our 4'x4'x8' jail. The front of the jail was created by using our large foam arch, adding some iron bars, and completing it with "stone" walls. Adding some potted palms, coins, and a few jewels creates the perfect pirate jail.

Complimenting Rileighs great pipe and drape boothing was our guest seating area. We utilized hightop tables, adorned with gold spandex undercloths and black and white striped top cloths. We added 4' and 5' round tables to the area, clothing the 4' round tables in black linen to the floor and the 5' round tables with black linen to the floor and red and white striped top cloths. The 4' round tables were tricked out with small live tabletop ferns, while the 5' tables were adorned with silver and gold goblets, coins, and jewels.

The coordinator of the event, Eric, added great entertainment to the event by hiring favorites of mine, Round Table Productions. This group of incredibly talented actors adds a flair of interactivity and realism to any event -- complete with sword fights and all! Kate and the crew came dressed and armed for entertainment!

Thanks to Eric and Dillon from Cooper Booth Wholesale for inviting us to add some swashbucklin' fun to this event!