Welcome to Aster + Quail!

We make fantastic illuminated installations to transform the atmosphere of your event and make it a night to remember for your guests. Custom projects tickle our fancy most (Come say Hi!, and let us help you reinvent your space). If you need smaller pieces, such as centerpieces, or you're not quite sure what you're looking for then please peruse our shop where you will find a whole range of illuminated centerpieces, event decor, and pendant lights for the home that we have already carefully designed for you.

Each Aster + Quail piece is handcrafted by the two of us in our tiny New York City studio. Perhaps you have already looked at our portfolio and noticed: We Love Paper. In fact, many of our existing designs are made with upcycled papers such as vintage sheet music, old maps, and flower bulb catalogues. We don't like to see items like this go to waste when they can be transformed into the most dynamic and tantalizing light fixtures and sculptures.

Like many small businesses our studio functions as a design lab, manufacturing plant and shipping facility. Some days you'll find us scouring bookstores for old books and vintage maps, or marveling at flora in the New York Botanical Garden. Other days you'll find us assembling paper flowers in the studio or designing new products together. At some point in the day we always break for a pot of tea, and for a snuggle with Basel, our security dog and product tester.

We hope our designs, whether they be decor for a special event or a pendant light for the home, will inspire and surprise our clients. We strive for elegance, romance, and a balance of dramatic flair and architectural resonance in our designs. With Allison's background in architecture, and Elizabeth's in theatrical costume design, we see our aesthetic as a result of this combined experience.

Enjoy! Allison + Elizabeth

Our Story

We are Allison and Elizabeth, two ladies making lights! Allison is obsessed with textures and shadows (she used to be an architect). She is a wiz at using InDesign to mock up custom designs, and she's never met a craft project she didn't like. Elizabeth is a theatrical costume designer, so she approaches our work like it's a theatre production: we are visual storytellers! She gets a lot of inspiration from the natural world, and loves magical dinner parties and wild floral arrangements.

With Asteria, the ancient Greek goddess of shooting stars, as our namesake you can imagine that we are obsessed with everything illuminated. After the fall of the Titans, Asteria was pursued by Zeus through the starry heavens. To escape his advances, she transformed herself into a quail and flew into the Aegean Sea where she became the Greek island of Delos. We are proud of the many transformations Aster + Quail has been through over the years (though luckily none due to Zeus' unwanted advances). Our customers want unique events, and we strive to fulfill their desires, creating new pieces as breathtaking as the starry night sky.