Space and time may be reinvented, solving the twin wedding dilemmas of fitting guests into space while stretching preparation time.

Colin Cowie routinely masters both space and time. Using a Tuscan theme, he created a private wedding for 225 guests at the world-class Hotel Bel Air in Bel Air, California, whose ballroom seats at most 160 guests.

"To assure privacy, I first insured that we were the only wedding that day at the hotel," Cowie explained. He then avoided the traditional gazebo, preferring a ceremony in the round, seating the guests into a horseshoe configuration overlooking a swan lake. The chuppah, the traditional Jewish wedding canopy, was an arbor created of curly willow interwoven with cream and white roses, ivy and greenery. A white runner bordered in rose petals formed the aisle. Guests sat on simple white chairs. The surrounding gardens were replanted with flowering lavender.

Because guests had met the previous evening, Cowie "forfeited the cocktail hour." Guests proceeded on to the front garden to a 100-foot by 30-foot canopy tent. Here, Cowie had recreated time. Although decorating the tent normally occupies three days, he couldn't begin preparations on site until 7:00 a.m. that morning.

"We had a similar tent set up in a warehouse," Cowie noted. "The entire ceiling was made to measure. We worked out the chandelier fittings and the side attachments all in advance. Then on site, we assembled it in one hour." Guests found six tables, each 32 feet long in two rows of three tables each. At the end of each row, angled framed mirrors reflected the interior back onto itself, creating a sense of infinite space. The ceiling was a tight swag of natural cotton, the side panels were white and cream organza, some tied back and others left to move gently in the breeze. Textured sisal carpeting of natural color covered the lawn. Tables were draped in heavy white Italian linen, overlaid in...

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