LIGHTING DESIGNThe glow in the dressing room was perfect when you tried on your gown—but now, eek! Not so in the hallogen lighting of your reception site. Enter lighting prodigy Bentley Meeker, who has worked with many boldface names since first making a splash in this niche industry. He’ll design light that flatters guests and highlights and hides the room’s strengths and weaknesses, respectively. He can also do really magical things with lighting and color, like totally transform the feel of a venue. Want to give a historical ballroom a Bungalow 8–inspired makeover? Meeker can probably do it. Want something really dewy and romantic? He can mute light with mist, or use colored bulbs to create a blue lagoon or amber atmosphere. He’ll project friezes and elegant patterns onto walls, dim the corners of a smaller room to provide nooks where couples can retreat, and highlight the edges of a grand space to make it feel more intimate. From $3,000 to $500,000.
Bentley Meeker Lighting & Staging, Inc., 303 W. 10th St., nr. Weehawken St., second fl.; 212-722-3349; bentleymeeker.com.
VEGETARIAN CATERINGKnown for their veggie-friendly desserts, the creative chefs at Kyotofu, the newish Japanese dessert spot, also cater vegetarian and vegan weddings. Besides miso-chocolate petit fours and maple-soy-mascarpone mousse, Kyotofu can do full-course meals featuring black edamame, soymilk quiche, wild mushroom and feta Wellington, Tahini-based vegetarian “foie (faux) gras” and eggplant “caviar” crostini, veggie-patty sliders, and vegetarian sushi.
Kyotofu; 705 Ninth Ave., nr. 48th St.; 212-974-6012; kyotofu-nyc.com
ICE SCULPTURES The artists at Okamoto Studio, led by master sculptor Takeo Okamoto, silver medalist in the ice-carving event at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, can make virtually anything out of ice. For a couple of cinephiles, Okamoto inserted their faces into a life-size recreation of a Gone with the Wind poster—and froze 70 other posters of their favorite movies for centerpieces. It’s possibly the tackiest thing we’ve ever heard of, but no one can argue that it isn’t spectacular. Better to commission an ice sculpture with a purpose: think raw bars and sushi cases, beer steins, and shot glasses all made of ice. If there’s a budget and you want a really rowdy after-party, consider an ice luge down which bartenders pour spirits. For a winter wedding, have them etch a sparkly diamond pattern inside the ice, lit from below in white or blue. Prices start at $400 per block of ice, but life-size portraits are $750 a block and usually cost at least $4,000; ice bars start at $2,800.
Okamoto Studio, 368 Broadway, nr. Franklin St., Ste. 206; 212-842-0630.