Beyond the Ribbon-Cutting: Unusual Ways to Launch New Venues

Dog Tag Bakery also opted for an on-theme bread breaking at the opening of its first location in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood in December. The business aims to give military veterans and their spouses business skills and is in a partnership with the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies.

An LED drum line was among the eye-catching ways that Downtown Summerlin kicked off its grand opening in Las Vegas in November. The opening included a four-day street festival that Extraordinary Events produced for the Howard Hughes Corporation. The first night had a "Light Show" theme, and Howard Hughes C.E.O. David Weinreb cut a laser ribbon that cued multicolored lasers to shoot down the street.

When George Washington's presidential library opened in September 2013 on his estate at Mount Vernon in Virginia, the dedication featured patriotic bunting and a kabuki drop to reveal the library nameplate, as well as glittery red, white, and blue streamers. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association built the library and hired Hargrove to provide staging design, fabrication, and production.

To inaugurate the new SLS Las Vegas hotel in August, musician Lenny Kravitz participated in a ringing of the bell ceremony. Kravitz and his Kravitz Design team designed a collection of suites at the property.

Later, the property celebrated its opening in a more traditional—yet still over-the-top—fashion with a fireworks show that could be seen along the Las Vegas Strip.

There were ribbons at the 2006 opening of the Hearst Corporation headquarters opening, but their presentation was anything but traditional. At the Hearst Tower opening gala, produced by Van Wyck & Van Wyck with Hearst's internal planners, six aerialists entertained the crowd from 100 feet in the air. Two performers pulled oversize ribbons from opposite sides of the building across the six-story atrium.

In 2010, Blue Man Group celebrated its move to the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in a big way. Working with the Red Bull Air Force, members of the group skydived from 7,000 feet above the property and landed on the Rue de Monte Carlo.

At the grand opening of Ducati Miami in May, the motorcycle brand staged an event that included two stunt performances in which riders entertained the 300-person crowd with wheelies and other maneuvers. Other entertainment included a fashion show and a live graffiti mural artist.

To mark the opening of New York City's first Ikea store in 2008, dignitaries opted against a ribbon-cutting and instead sawed a log. The log had been prepped in advance to expedite the process.

During Art Basel in 2014, the artist Mr. Brainwash finished an art installation at the launch party of new restaurant Cibo Wine Bar South Beach. He spray-painted over a collage of luggage tags marked with Miami's "MIA" airport code.

When Whole Foods Market opens a new location, it dedicates the space with a bread breaking ceremony. The grand opening of its downtown Miami location in January featured such an event with a long, braided loaf broken in front of the store.