Some 600 guests sat to dinner at long, white tables.
Photo: Eric Antoniou
Fox Upfront After-Party
The large balloons marked with the names of Fox shows also led the way to the upfront's after-party at the Trump Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Fox Upfront After-Party
Structures inside the tent helped divide the space and provide seating nooks for the hundreds of guests that turned out.
Photo: André Maier Photography
Brooks Brothers donated orange and pink linens. Suzanne B. Lowell designed the rosy lighting scheme.
Photo: Michael Blanchard Photography
Peonies, Evelyn Lauder's favorite flower, decorated tables along with orange roses. Winston Flowers provided the springy arrangements. Mario Avila Design created the program.
Photo: Michael Blanchard Photography
Flowers also spruced up the lectern used during the evening's speaking presentation.
Photo: Michael Blanchard Photography
The Hollywood Palladium served as the backdrop for the Heart Foundation gala honoring Dr. P.K. Shah and Kimberly Shah.
Photo: Vince Bucci
Kehoe Designs created white, floating centerpieces.
Photo: Bob Carl
A gallery with a more contemporary design had illuminated tables and all-white chairs with sparsely populated centerpieces of orange, white, and yellow flowers.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com
Pucci-inspired patterns appeared on tabletop light fixtures and in patterned lighting on the ceiling.
Photo: Courtesy of the Shedd Aquarium
Tabletop decor in the rotunda included red roses and vessels filled with glowing liquids.
Photo: Courtesy of the Shedd Aquarium
Jellyfish-shaped structures hung above the dance floor in the tent.
Photo: Courtesy of the Shedd Aquarium
The installation crawled down the facade of the Park Hyatt Chicago.
Photo: Adrian Nastase Photography
American Harvest Organic Spirit Launch Party
Working under the direction of Sidney Frank Importing Company, which owns the American Harvest vodka brand, Event Creative designer Meredith Treinen brought an elegantly rustic look to the Ivy Room for the spirit's launch party. Decorative elements included fresh wheat in birch containers, blue hydrangeas in wood boxes, and votive-filled Mason jars.
Photo: AveryHouse
American Harvest Organic Spirit Launch Party
Lighting cast leafy projections on the walls.
Photo: AveryHouse
American Cancer Society's Discovery Ball
Tory Burch-like patterns also appeared on napkins at the American Cancer Society's April 28 ball, held at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel. Rishi Patel of HMR Design Group handled the decor.
Ettelson Photography
As part of AOL and T-Mobile's Signature Sounds program, indie pop band Fun took the stage at the House of Blues on June 4, performing a set that included their hit "We Are Young"—which also happens to be the highest-selling song of the year so far.
Photo: ES Photo
A 10-foot Lite-Brite-style decor piece matched the band’s vibrant branding.
Photo: ES Photo
Museum of Modern Art's Party in the Garden
The Museum of Modern Art's annual event took place in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden in New York on May 22. Long, communal tables and lounge-like configurations provided more relaxed seating on the upper level. For centerpieces, designer David Monn incorporated square-shaped topiaries, illuminated by candles that hung from the leaves in glass cylinders.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario Gala
Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario's annual gala at the Liberty Grand April 14 based much of the design scheme around the night's "Inspire" theme. Bill Fulghum, event designer at William Fulghum, wanted to inspire and surprise guests. Eye-catching decor hung overhead. “The large, floating paper flowers, combined with the oversize Moooi chandeliers, created a certain fantasy feeling,” Fulghum said.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
At Barbra Streisand's fund-raiser for the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center in Malibu, colorful floral arrangements in wooden vases played off the outdoor setting.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
For the Central Park Conservancy's annual "Taste of Summer" event in New York, designer Marc Wilson punched up the all-white furnishings with drapes and throw pillows in bright pink, green, and yellow hues.
Photo: Peter Peck Field
Chevron-patterned linens were also used on cocktails tables, and sunflower bouquets served as centerpieces.
Photo: Aubree Dallas for Belvedere Vodka
A model sat atop the centralized bar holding a bunch of oversize balloons, reminiscent of a common childhood scene near candy stores.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash
Streamers
For the A.G.O. Massive Party fund-raiser in April, organizers hung sparkling streamers from the ceiling of the Toronto gallery space’s Baillie Court.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
Balloons
At an Art Institute of Chicago gala in May, Kehoe Designs covered the ceiling of an all-white lounge area with hundreds of clear balloons.
Photo: Ryan Sjostrom
Amy DiTomasso, founder of Sugar Chic Designs, aims to create elegant dessert tables. For a recent photo shoot with a Mad Men theme, DiTomasso created a spread laden with goods from mostly local vendors, including gold-dusted tiramisu cake pops, individual mini blueberry pies, and key lime cake; candies included Jordan Almonds, M&Ms, and sour-apple gummy bears. DiTomasso works with graphic designer Abby Barnett of Flair Designery to create custom-printed materials and table collateral.
Photo: Carasco Photo
Exterior Illustrations
As part of the Smirnoff Experience series of events in 2010, Mosaic Experiential Marketing placed graphic illustrations in the windows of Toronto's Andrew Richard Designs. The illustrations depicted comic book characters arriving at a party, mimicking the arrival of guests on the red carpet.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
Costumed Servers
Staffers are a big part of setting the tone at events. For Maxim's superhero-inspired Super Bowl party at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, servers wore capes and black masks.
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Maxim
Comics in Centerpieces
The 2008 Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto's Big Night Out benefit reminded guests of the night's superhero theme by placing them on the tables. The design team created colorful centerpieces by placing images of original comic book characters in tall plexiglass boxes on stands.
Photo: BizBash
Solutions With Impact dressed the main dining room in red and cream.
Photo: BizBash
Speech Bubbles on Mirrors
As a playful way to extend the night's motif to the bathroom, the organizers of the 2010 Smirnoff Experience in Toronto placed decals with small dots and speech balloons on mirrors to give guests' reflections a comic book effect.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
Linens
Matouk also makes novelty linen cocktail napkins. I am one of those people who finds monkeys endlessly entertaining. How about you?
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
House of Hype Power Players Event Presented by 'Esquire' for the MTV V.M.A.s
The House of Hype Power Players event presented by Esquire magazine took to the Beverly Hills Hotel for dinner and an after-party.
Photo: Michael Bezjian/WireImage
The candy shop was brightly lit and filled with Ernst & Young's colours, yellow and white. There were four candy stations that had fudge, yellow cotton candy, a self-serve candy bar with branded plastic bags, and white-iced cookies and cupcakes.
Photo: BizBash
A baked-goods station had sweet bites, including mini brownie squares, sugary doughnut holes, and bite-size chocolate chip cookies.
Photo: Sara Jaye Weiss
No detail was spared for the preview party, not even when it came to the food. Creative Edge served a bevy of Italian-inspired hors d'oeuvres on custom, Missoni-inspired trays lined with patterns. The menu included colorful macaroons (pictured), as well as a lobster pop tart that had rice paper garnishes decorated with the signature zigzag print.
Photo: Courtesy of Creative Edge
‘Spring Breakers’ Dinner at the Toronto International Film Festival
The Mint Agency used sand, shells, and tanks with live fish as centerpieces at the September 7 premiere dinner for Spring Breakers during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Photo: Jennifer Meriano
Samsung Galaxy Note II Launch
Samsung Mobile went on a high-profile launch event tour for its new Galaxy Note II. For the West Coast event in late October, hosted at the Beverly Hills home of interior designer Kelly Wearstler, Tony Schubert and Event Eleven built a 80- by 40-foot tent on the home’s tennis court, where four custom-built activation pods allowed guests to interact with the new device.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
Breeders’ Cup Kickoff Reception at the Getty House
The Breeders' Cup, the unofficial end to the thoroughbred-racing season, took over Santa Anita Park on November 2 and 3. Kicking off all the festivities and welcoming the event back to the region was a reception at the mayor's residence, the Getty House, on Halloween night. BrownHot Events' masquerade-inspired design included chandeliers encased in Lucite, pieces that doubled as cocktail tables.
Photo: Claire Barrett
The installation, called "Drift," was meant to be seen from several blocks away.
Photo: Juerg Schreiter for BizBash
The Design Miami entrance pavilion consists of inflated tubes bundled together, with foam seating in the courtyard.
Photo: Juerg Schreiter for BizBash
Diffa's four-day event ran alongside the Architectural Digest Home Show. Attendees entered the Diffa section of the trade show floor by walking through a tunnel of exposed lightbulbs that hung overhead.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Many designers had spring on the mind, with several environments dedicated to garden motifs. Rachel Laxer Interiors with Robert Kuo designed an ode to Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard with a mural of an 18th-century woman falling from a swing and a centerpiece of moody floral arrangements and fresh fruit.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Maya Romanoff and the Rockwell Group collaborated with the producers of Kinky Boots to create a dining environment that would celebrate the April 4 opening of the Broadway show. A chandelier of patent leather boots interspersed with red lightbulbs floated above the red tabletop, and the wall panels were designed to resemble laced-up corsets.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Rachel Laxer Interiors' table settings included moss-covered chargers and—similar to the Kinky Boots table—corseted napkin holders.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Another trend spotted on the Diffa floor: black-and-white stripes. The Architectural Digest table featured the striking pattern on the china, the surrounding columns, a giant paper lantern, and the table itself. A centerpiece of brightly hued anemones and poppies popped against the stark palette.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
The table Frette designed for The New York Times was housed inside a black-and-white striped cabana. With rustic wood accents, fresh oranges, and arrangements of olive tree branches, the tabletop had a Tuscan countryside vibe.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Flexform & Dror's tribute to water conservation included chalkboard walls that had water factoids scrawled across them; at the center was a moving projection of a waterfall.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
At Patrón's area, the walls were draped in sheer chiffon, and hanging tequila bottles held flickering votives.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Private Graduation Party
At the end of the school year in June, a New Jersey family feted its high school graduate with a backyard bash. But this wasn't any old barbecue: Designed by David Stark, the inventive affair had decor comprised of red plastic cups. A DJ booth was made of hundreds of stacked Solo cups and framed with columns that evoked a classic fraternity house. Custom graphics of college pennants decorated the dance floor.
Photo: Susie Montagna
In keeping with the night's prom theme, six large stanchions of white balloons—branded with Target logos and up lit with spotlights—were erected at the entrance to the party venue with dramatic effect. A custom canopy, covered in the "Kate Young Target" logo, was built at the base of the doorway. A total of 1,000 balloons were used outside.
Photo: Jim Shi
Diffa Chicago's Believe 2013
Held on June 8 during the NeoCon convention in Chicago, the Diffa Chicago Believe gala had prismatic decor from Event Creative. Golden candle holders and flowers in summery hues of purple and orange popped against black linens and Lucite centerpieces. The event took place at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel.
Photo: Courtesy of DIFFA
'Vanity Fair' Campaign Hollywood Toast to 'Boyhood'
Blue flowers clustered by variety popped in clean arrangements at Cecconi's for the magazine's toast to Richard Linklater and the cast of Boyhood on February 19.
Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
8. Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Opening
7. At an opening party in September for the new Studio Towers event space at Carnegie Hall in New York, tables were topped with oversize arrangements by Noir Hanna.
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
9. Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party
8. Lanterns hung above a tented hall into the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Oscar party in Los Angeles.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
Two by Two for AIDS Art Gala and Action
Todd Events designed the October 2013 event at the Rachofsky House in Dallas. "The black-and-white theme was selected because every year the event has an honorary artist," said a rep for the company. "The artist from last year worked in a black-and-white medium for his art pieces, so we played the event decor off that." Tables were decked with striped linens and glassware that reflected the theme.
Photo: Roderick Peña
Two by Two for AIDS Art Gala and Action
Instead of a red carpet, designers laid down a black-and-white-striped carpet at the entrance.
Photo: Roderick Peña
TV Land's 'Happily Divorced' Season 2 Promotion
For a 2012 wedding in New York that promoted the series, Sylvia Weinstock designed the cake, which was a black-and-white confection designed to look like a large vase of flowers. Fran Drescher (pictured) officiated.
Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Flying Television
The Art Institute of Chicago's Woman's Board Gala
The museum hosted a gala in 2013 to fete its "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity" exhibition. Event designer Bill Heffernan of HMR Design Group used a black-and-white color scheme inspired by some of the 19th-century dresses on display. To complement the fashion-inspired setting, tables were topped with 19th-century-style wire urns set atop black-and-white hat boxes.
Photo: Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago
The Phillips Collection's Gala
At the 2007 event in Washington, designer David Tutera wrapped napkins in paper filmstrips to create an old Hollywood look.
Photo: Anne E. Stewart/BizBash
HP Promotion
At an HP promotion in Los Angeles in 2013, a palette of black and white created a visually striking scene.
Photo: Courtesy of HP
Nature: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Governors Ball
This year's Governors Ball, held after the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles at Hollywood & Highland in March, featured massive vertical garden walls from Mark's Garden and a starry ceiling designed by Larry Oberman in association with ELS. Two 18-foot-tall structures filled with floral arrangements and moss insets flanked the entrance to the park-like setting.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
Succulents: 360 Live Media Office Opening Party
Guests received a potted succulent from florist Multiflor as a take-home gift at Washingtion-based 360 Live Media's office party in September.
Photo: Ben Droz
Wedding Trend: Chinoiserie
Complementing the hues of blue in the chinoiserie area of the party space were cocktails offered in varying shapes and sizes of feminine glassware.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
Wedding Trend: Watercolors
Purple flowers in ombre arrangements ran the length of the cookie-decorating table.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
In what could be described as a meta interpretation of a traditional floral centerpiece, David Stark used twine to create flower-shaped centerpieces at the Museum of Arts and Design's Visionary Awards gala in New York in 2007.
Photo: Gustavo Campos
Floral and event design company Amaryllis hosted an industry New Year's Eve party in Washington where a golden bust surrounded by an orb was part of an effort to weave in some statement-making European flair.
Photo: Kate Headley
For an event for Munchkin baby products in Los Angeles in November, Jeannie Savage of Details Details used toys on the tabletops to "evoke childhood memories," she said, for the bloggers, event planners, and influential mom guests in attendance.
Photo: Jessica Claire
For the 2010 St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School's sports-theme benefit in Washington, held in the school's gymnasium, centerpieces were oversize versions of athletic objects by commercial sculptor A.J. Strasser.
Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
The Bafta Los Angeles Tea Party, held on Golden Globes weekend in Los Angeles, used various decor pieces and objects to advance its British theme—including a Union Jack-splashed tea kettle holding white roses.
Photo: Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Jaguar Land Rover
Rainbow Draping
The check-in desk at a law firm's "Big Gay Party" in July 2014 included draping that matched the rainbow hues in the pride flag.
Photo: Camilla Pucholt Photography
Simple Decor
At the Canadian design fair the Interior Design Show in 2013, Ikea took over the ticket counter, using a lamp as a simple, homey touch that made the space feel less clinical. The brand also decked the back wall with a leafy, wallpaper-like design and placed its bright red logo front and center.
Photo: Arash Moallemi
Costumed Attendants
For a Catch Me if You Can screening in New York in 2011, Stella Artois transformed the restaurant Casa Lever into a 1960s airport lounge. The hostess stand was remade as the departure gate counter, where guests could check their tickets against a seating chart.
Photo: Joshua Dalsimer
In January, Ross Mathews and the Happy Egg Company feted California's Proposition 2 (mandating that eggs sold in the state must come from hens with larger cages) with an event that included cutouts of chickens placed on the yellow arrivals carpet for 3-D effect. The event was at West Hollywood’s Palihouse.
Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for the Happy Egg Company
At the Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Awards in New York in 2011, designer David Stark used colorful rolls of tape supplied by 3M as seating cards. The rolls were stacked on rods atop the tables.
Photo: Richard Patterson/Courtesy of Cooper-Hewitt
At the BizBash New York IdeaFest in 2012, Zak Events promoted its wares with a wall of potted succulents that doubled as both an attention-getting escort card idea and a takeaway with a solid shelf life.
Photo: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
Last year, the Holiday Chic Suite popped up on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, where Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event oversaw the design—including seating cards pinned to green apples with sparkly tacks.
Photo: Maypole Studios Photography
For last year's Costume Institute gala, which celebrated the exhibition “Punk: Chaos to Couture” with an overall punk-inspired look and feel, chairs at the dinner had cream fabric slip covers decorated with strips of black or pink grosgrain zippers.
Photo: Billy Farrell/BFAnyc.com
The Schwarzkopf hair show in Los Angeles last year had a color-blocked look marked by bright, tropical shades. A canopy of colorful fringe hung over the event space, and ghost chairs were emblazoned with versions of the beauty brand's logo.
Photo: Brian Leahy Photography
At the 2003 Angel Ball benefit for the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research in New York, On3's gift lounge included chairs decked with feathery angel wings. It made for striking decor, as well as a way to acknowledge and differentiate the highest-level sponsors.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
The Discovery Channel feted its new documentary, Frozen Planet, in New York in 2012 with a playful branded touch that also served as a fun takeaway: Among the array of penguin details the company brought into the Lincoln Center concert hall were plush stuffed toy penguins on each seat.
Photo: Jika González for BizBash
The Women's Wear Daily Beauty Summit in 2013 had a sleek, all-white design from Shiraz Events. Guests sat in clear Miro chairs at communal tables topped with white linens and simple birch vases holding cobble moss balls.
Photo: Sean Smith
To cap off New York Fashion Week in 2010, Calvin Klein hosted a party with seating vignettes of minimalist, low-slung white sofas and ottomans around fireplaces.
Photo: Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com
At a dinner to mark new gallery openings at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011, Heffernan Morgan bathed webbed scrims in golden light to cast spiderweblike patterns throughout the modern dinner space.
Photo: Robert Carl
Be Inspired PR hosts and produces the Tassels and Tastemakers event twice each year for event and wedding industry professionals, plus media, bloggers, and other influencers. The most recent iteration on March 25 brought a Western theme to Carondelet House in Los Angeles. Beth Helmstetter Events designed the dance floor, where string lights hung above denim sofa seating and rentals from Found Vintage Rentals.
Photo: Troy Grover
In March, Old Navy invited an all-ages crowd to celebrate spring at Fig & Olive in Los Angeles with the brand's style ambassadors Emily Current and Meritt Elliott. The so-called “On the Road” event had an Americana road trip theme with a colorful map motif. Collaged maps comprised a decor wall that also served as a photo backdrop.
Photo: Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com
Each month, Michaels challenges its Michaels Makers bloggers—a group of D.I.Y. and lifestyle influencers—to design a project according to a specific theme, trend, or season, such as D.I.Y. pumpkins using the company's hollow craft ones. The doughnut pumpkin from the DIY Playbook features a nine-inch white craft pumpkin with painted frosting and sprinkles.
Photo: Courtesy of the DIY Playbook
Gold confetti pumpkins from Homey Oh My only require three supplies—a pumpkin, scissors, and Washi tape.
Photo: Courtesy of Homey oh my!
A hamburger pumpkin from Shrimp Salad Circus includes "lettuce, tomato, and cheese" made from corrugated cardboard, foam, and heavy paper.
Photo: Courtesy of Shrimp Salad Circus
A yellow cab prop decorated Donna Karan's New York-themed "City of DKNY Kids" tent at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund's Super Saturday shopping event.
Marc Wilson, founder of MWD Lifestyles, a New York-based event brand and design house, recommends "staying within holiday color schemes that are always in season around holiday time and largely embraced" to help keep costs down, especially when making bulk purchases.
Photo: Jesse Neider
Tree stumps served as vases for white amaryllis flowers as well as candleholders and added a contrasting element to the glittery sequin linens at the corporate gathering.
Photo: Elizabeth Bruneau
For a Coca-Cola event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a ceiling installation design was inspired by a burst of bubbles exploding from a Coca-Cola bottle. The installation lit up in gold whenever athletes won a gold medal.
Photo: Tiago de Paula Carvalho
At the 2012 Screen Actors Guild awards after-party in Los Angeles, a diamond-shaped, draped ceiling treatment created a dramatic effect.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
At a New York bar mitzvah, 400 luminaries filled with LED candles were hung from a large oval truss on the ceiling to create a supper club atmosphere.
Photo: Andre Maier Photography
As part of U by Kotex's Period Projects, a multiyear program and project series aimed at changing the way people think about periods, the brand debuted a "period pop-up shop" in New York in May. The event featured a ceiling installation created with dangling tampons.
Photo: Taylor McIntyre/BizBash
Dramatic chandeliers created an elegant tone at the MSNBC White House Correspondents’ Dinner party in 2012.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images for MSNBC
For the 2011 Design Exchange gala in Toronto, hundreds of balloons hung from the ceiling during the V.I.P. dinner. The space changed color with each course, starting with blue, morphing to pink for the main course, changing to orange for dessert, and ending in red.
Photo: George Pimentel
