Designer Spotlight on... Matthew David Celebrations

Matthew David Hopkins

Matthew came to New York in the mid-nineties with a bachelor of science in architecture, love of nature, and passion for people. Armed with these three things, he began his career in January 1994 with his first account – creating gorgeous flower sculptures for a restaurant. Since then, Matthew’s commitment to “getting it right” has catapulted him to running his own business, working on everything from floral décor and design, to full scale production management and technical direction for clients. Here’s Matthew’s advice for working personal, fun touches into his events: “Put yourself in the clients’ shoes. I always think, with their eyes and my knowledge, how can I elevate the guest’s experience? This goes beyond just flowers. Bold graphics are becoming more and more important as we all gain exposure to more digital photos and video content. What your event looks like on screen is more important than ever. Graphics and lighting go a long way towards insuring your event rocks the screen.”

For this wedding rehearsal dinner, one of his favorite event looks, Matthew found inspiration through the bride and groom’s rich and varied cultural backgrounds. “They are a modern couple and loved the idea of combining their styles while maintaining a clean, romantic feel. The Middle Eastern look of the lamps combined with the tropical greenhouse feeling of the plants and leaves surrounding the white candlelit table top, all worked together to evoke romanticism. I actually found these perforated metal lanterns at Jamali the week before I met with this couple and was attracted to the curvilinear shapes as well as the light they cast. I had snapped a pic with my phone and showed it to them at our first meeting. They LOVED the lamps from the jump. We modified the lamps so we could use them with candles instead of light bulbs. We then suspended them over the tables alternating them with oversized philodendron leaves.” For finishing touches, the team added our Reflective Mirror Tea Light Holders, votives, modern metal lanterns, and white linens to keep the look fresh.

Lamps and the philodendron, suspended over the table.

A nice touch: a calla lily at each place setting

The most fantastic thing about Matthew is that he goes beyond the event and makes it a point to really celebrate these important milestones for his clients. “I get to be a part of people’s lives and I get to help mold important moments with and for them – through experiential design. Through design, I’ve married a mayor, celebrated with super stars, launched products and campaigns, seated a canine next to a bride, created theme parks, spectacles, stunts, and outdoor movie concerts. I’ve been there for friends and clients as they say goodbye to loved ones, welcome new babies into the world and celebrated milestone birthdays and anniversaries. ALL of the events add up to a collective extraordinary moment I get to share with people. How cool is that?!” Re-create this look designed by Matthew David with our similar Square Iron Lanterns, Reflective Mirror Tea Lights, pre-filled votives, tea lights, our Iron Mesh Lamps, and Large Monstera Leaves.