Decor

“The days of matching five-piece place settings have gone. Now it is acceptable to mix patterns and shapes throughout the course of dinner. Traditional mixed with contemporary pieces is also an emerging trend, along with an introduction of color to dining plates.”
Mary Crothers, Chair-Man Mills, Toronto
(Pictured: An eclectic setting at Diffa’s Dining by Design in New York in March)

“The Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck is a timeless icon. Introduced by Kartell in 2002, this modern reinterpretation of a classical shape continues to bring a fresh look to events in 2011 and beyond.”
Bobby Taylor, Taylor Creative Inc., New York

“White leather never gets old, never goes out of demand. It works for every style and theme with some pillows, lighting, and accents as long as it has simple, clean lines.”
Lindsay Cosimi, AFR Event Furnishings, Orlando

“Far and away, the largest trend in design for events over the past ten years has been the lounge. While 10 years ago, sitting next to the same person for a four-hour event seemed to work, now people want to work the crowd and talk to everyone, which is why the lounge is so appealing.”
Christine Merser, Classic Party Rentals, New York

“Although round white china is still an industry staple, most high-end events now use square white plates for the cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres. A six-inch square plate is perfect for the small plates trend that has swept through the catering industry.”
Nancy Brockway, Hall’s Rentals, Chicago

“We have seen the advent of lighted furnishings including tables, pedestals, columns, and bars. The soft glow created by LED lighted furnishings is now an integral part of most events that take place in the evening.” Kevin Dana, Cort Event Furnishings, San Francisco

“Bars have become a central, eye-catching focal point. As facades have become more decorative and design-driven over the years, they can be used as an amazing centerpiece for an event.” Brittany Lucas, Suite 206, Dallas(Pictured: A bar from Rentquest at the Whitney Museum’s Art Party in New York in 2007)

“Chiavari chairs remain an event mainstay. We have a large selection of specialty colors from aubergine to shabby chic-distressed to try and shake things up a bit.” Richard LoGuercio, Town & Country Event Rentals, Van Nuys, California

“Customization is one of the biggest trends. Our most popular rental items in our inventory are the ones we create in our fabrication studio, working with materials including salvaged wood, acrylics, and metals. We find that clients want totally custom rentals, not pieces you can import from China that everyone else has.”  Michael Nedeau, PBD Events, Boston(Pictured: AOL’s presence at South by Southwest in March, designed by Fresh Wata)

At a 40th birthday party, Susan Holland Events filled the Stephan Weiss Studio in New York with disco ball lights and projected French surrealist films, while a swing hung near the dance floor.

Todd Events made a wedding held inside a large barn in Aspen seem more intimate with two tall signature bars and scattered seating and food station vignettes. Hanging glass globes appeared to lower the ceilings.

Inspired by the family’s love of candy, David Monn used ring pops, gummy frogs, lollipops, and sour apple gummy rings to create the centerpieces at a recent bat mitzvah.

Ritzy Bee Events used craft paper and chalk to label the passed appetizers for a rehearsal dinner at the Decatur House in Washington so guests wouldn’t be left guessing.

For a donut-themed bridal shower put together by blogger Elsie Larson, a giant chalkboard filled with descriptive doodles served as the backdrop of the food spread.

For an upscale dinner party, Fête presented a clambake menu in a formal, modern setting by having waiters serve custom Plexiglas trays filled with seafood.

At a casual outdoor wedding in California planned by Kate Miller Events, gingham flags displaying table numbers were tucked into vintage soda bottles filled with flowers.

Guests created custom perfumes at a scent bar set up by Ka-Mil-Yin, a Los Angeles-based fragrance company that specializes in perfume parties, to take home as a favor from a bridal shower.

For a dandy-themed graduation party in Hollywood, Canvas & Canopy designed a dessert buffet that eschewed the twee look in favor of a sophisticated display of treats on cake stands made from vintage candlesticks and shelves built using industrial pipes.

For a New York couple marrying at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Heather Snively of Weddings Unique recreated the newlyweds’ hometown with a hand-painted backdrop of Central Park from Greenery Productions. Lighting and real trees helped the scene come to life.

Marcy Blum Associates built a bakery-style display case to offer guests breakfast-to-go treats from New York bakeries at the end of a wedding reception.

Jes Gordon/Proper Fun created a supper club atmosphere at Gotham Hall in New York for a recent bar mitzvah. Four-hundred luminaries filled with LED candles were hung from a large oval truss on the ceiling.

Matthew Parker Events crafted lighting fixtures for a speakeasy-themed wedding using hats from a party supply store, decorative ribbon, corded wire, and filament bulbs.

For a wedding at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta, Bold American Events & Catering designed an upside-down centerpiece of yellow tulips and glass globes that hung above the head table.

David Beahm Design put together a farm cart filled with Israeli market-inspired treats, like jars of honey, nuts, and dried apricots, which was displayed at the wedding of a couple looking to tie in their Israeli roots. Guests filled small burlap bags to take home.

At a wedding designed by Triton Productions, the focal point of the pre- and post-ceremony cocktail area at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach was a custom-designed 360-degree bar made of corrugated mirror.

Bryn Chernoff of Paperfinger created custom calligraphy stamps of each guest’s name, which doubled as place cards and favors at a private dinner party held at the Foundry in New York.

The tables at a graffiti-themed bar mitzvah designed by David Stark Design and Production, held at Center 548 in New York, displayed arrangements of daffodils and ranunculuses sprouting from cinder block planters.

Bathroom amenity baskets are a staple at social events, sometimes tying to the event’s motif, like this one created by State of the Art Enterprises for a bar mitzvah with a graphic pattern theme.

Jeffrey Foster of Event Creative designed custom-built tables and props, including glowing baseball diamond-shaped tables and a scoreboard that hung above the dance floor, for a bar mitzvah at the Ravenswood Event Center in Chicago.

For a vodka shot bar at a birthday party designed by Kristi Amoroso Special Events, the bottles were displayed in a sculptural arrangement of textured ice spheres.

Mélangerie Inc.’s customized wedding genealogy charts detail the relationship of the wedded couple to their guests with the help of a relationship key. Guests browse the chart during the cocktail hour to learn about their tablemates.

For a wedding at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Marc Hall Design built seven-foot-tall mirrored glass vessels to hold apple tree branches adorned with phalaenopsis orchids that were kept hydrated through a system of hand-blown glass pipes.

For a bat mitzvah at Guastavino’s in New York, Susan Holland Events used Tyvek pillows hand-stitched with neon thread as chargers. After the meal, waiters threw the pillows in the center of the tables, where they glowed under black light.

Levy Lighting and Preston Bailey collaborated on a wedding after-party lounge held in a tent, with the ceiling lit from behind to create the glowing effect.

Sponsor Swarovski's influence could be seen in a sparkling lectern and stage backdrop.

The Essence Black Women in Hollywood event brought together a crowd of about 300 for a luncheon award program at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Custom sparkly gold linens and voluminous arrangements of fuchsia and magenta peonies and roses topped tables

Magenta lighting from Lighten Up washed the ballroom, done in gold tones with pops of hot pink.

Sponsor Lincoln displayed a vehicle in the tented lounge area; the vehicle had to be craned over the garden wall two days prior.

In the lounge, done in a range of mainly gold tones, Lincoln's logo appeared on throw pillows on plush sofas.

Boost Mobile devices were displayed like fine jewels in Swarovski-decorated vitrines.

This year's arrivals carpet doubled in width and reached to the fullest length permitted in the space, 10 feet longer this year to accommodate additional crews.

Sponsor Moët, which is blanketing the award-season circuit, poured its bubbly.

New York’s annual countdown to the New Year once again took over Times Square, with live performances by Taylor Swift, Psy, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Neon Trees. To engage the online and mobile audience, a free app from organizers the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment let viewers watch the festivities live, and consumers could write wishes on confetti that was mixed in with the pieces that were released at midnight.

After rescheduling its two-day conference in New York due to Hurricane Sandy, WWD held its C.E.O. Summit at the Plaza on Monday and Tuesday. Contrasting the storied hotel’s ornate interior, the trade journal’s internal team and producer XA gave the stage, check-in desk, and lounge area a clean white look with yellow accents.

Kicking off the new year, ESPN hosted select guests for a V.I.P. tailgating experience at a tent inside the Rose Bowl Hospitality Village in Pasadena, California, January 1. Designed by Russell Harris Event Group, the sports network's private space included an outdoor patio, where blue umbrellas contrasted the red ESPN-branded picnic tables. Football-shaped bowls containing candy and nuts served as the tabletop centerpieces.

In a preview of the meal to be served at the coming Golden Globes award ceremony, Beverly Hilton executive pastry chef Thomas Henzi showed off a dessert trio of cappuccino mousse dome, orange sanguine, and chocolate salted caramels—accented with gold leaf.

On Tuesday, Stella McCartney presented its fall 2013 collection at New York’s 680 Park Avenue, building a series of vignettes for models to lounge in and around. In keeping with the designer’s quirky style, the event filled the ceiling with pink helium-filled balloons.

Designed to feel like an artist’s studio, Stella McCartney’s fall 2013 presentation at New York’s 680 Park Avenue on Tuesday saw artists paint looks from the collection in front of guests.

Reflecting a shift from cupcakes to doughnuts, Washington-based event planning firm Evoke featured the sticky treat at its industry holiday party for 450 guests December 18 at Penn Social. Astro Donut, a new company, provided the doughnuts.

The Chicago-based company held its massive holiday party at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom December 14. Event Creative's decor included 8- by 12-foot masquerade masks, which had illuminated, color-changing crystal columns as "handles." Event Creative created patterned gobos meant to look like the draped materials on a Mardi Gras float and collaborated with Sound Investment on the lighting.

This year's Winter Illuminations festival in Japan displayed more than seven million sparkling LED lights spread across the grounds of the Nabana no Sato botanical garden, part of the Nagashima Onsen resort area in Kuwana City. The annual festival runs for five months, between November and March, and every year millions visit to witness the stunning display of lights, one of the largest wintertime illumination events in the country.

Decor from Zak Events at the 11th annual June Briggs Awards in New York Monday included a custom-built white leather tufted bar. At the center was a display of icy-looking glass vessels filled with candlelight. The event, held at the Pierre New York, A Taj Hotel, honored businesses in the destination management and hospitality industry.

BrownHot Events used Signature Systems Group’s "Seagrass" sisal carpet at the tent for Veuve Clicquot’s Polo Classic event in October.

Pyramid highboy table, $95, gold bar, $350, and bookshelf, $150, available throughout South Florida from Lavish Event Rentals

Soho bar table, price upon request, available nationwide from Cort Events

Alladin highboy, price upon request, available nationwide from Blueprint Studios

Antiqued beveled mirror cruiser, price upon request, available in Toronto from Contemporary Furniture Rentals Inc.

Flip highboy, $125, available in black and white on the East Coast from Taylor Creative Inc.

Gold branch side table, $45, available nationwide from Suite 206

Tree tables, $125 each, available in New York from GreenRoom

Neo bar table, $113, available throughout Southern California from FormDecor

Chinois coffee table, $107, available throughout Southern California from FormDecor

Rectangular red-plexi black-framed cruiser table, price upon request, available in Toronto from Contemporary Furniture Rentals Inc.

Allure table, $250, available nationwide from FWR Rental Haus

Monochrome weddings are getting an updated twist lately, as seen in the table and setup by Edge Floral Event Designers. Think understated—even rustic—furnishings that allow details like flowers and wallpaper to pop without looking overdone.

The rustic look has moved into the realm of total refinement, as seen in the setup from Simply Chic Events, which came complete with reclaimed wood and an Edison-style bulb chandelier.

The ever-chic black-and-white motif gets new energy with the help of dramatic metallic accents. At the setup by Events in the City, a gold sparkle wall and gold glitter flatware add festivity to an otherwise preppy look.

If the ombré trend extends to wedding confections, why not to corporate events too? The good-luck cake from TipsyCake at Poladora launch party blended from white to green.

Mexican themes lend themselves to such whimsy and colorfulness. The table from A Perfect Event shows off a well-executed, conversation-starting example.

Flowers are no longer strictly contained by vessels. Sofitel Los Angeles let blooms trail from an oversize arrangement—a similar look to the Recording Academy's Bollywood-inspired after-party for the Grammys.

Planners may already have seen this theme evolve: chandeliers, chandeliers, chandeliers. At the Wedding Salon showcase Premiere Party Rents hung one from a wedding canopy. For corporate events, the ceiling treatments can be hung from tent ceilings, above food stations, or over an arrivals carpet.

Illuminated chandeliers are eye-catching additions to weddings and corporate events alike. The floral and crystal chandelier installed by Karla Conceptual Event Experiences and lit by Frost Florida, packed a punch in purple.

Live musical acts are borrowing inspiration from the evocative 1920s period. Costumed entertainers took the stage at a collaboration between the New York Botanical Garden and Stephen Starr Events.

Tired of the all-white leather look? Leslee Bell of Decor & More is creating lounge areas with rental furniture that incorporates textured fabrics such as suede, chenille, herringbone, and wide whale corduroy, along with throw pillows featuring stripes, abstract patterns, and animal prints.

Vintage China Hire offers an eclectic mix of vintage and antique tableware for events of as many as 120 people. Vintage China Hire has also partnered with Loic Gourmet to offer catered afternoon tea packages for a minimum of 12 people.

Contemporary Furniture Rentals has a variety of items ideal for pulling off a rustic look, including barrel stave chandeliers, coffee and cocktail tables made from reclaimed wood, and its new Farmhouse dining chairs (pictured).

In an effort to prevent large staging and exhibit structures from ending up in landfills, Arlington, Virginia-based design firm Beth Singer Design has developed modular staging systems that can be reused, reconfigured, and resized. The portable, lightweight frames are easily customized with a variety of wrinkle-free fabric skins.

Event planning company Well Rehearsed offers its ready-made Streets of San Francisco centerpiece collection for rent or purchase. The 10 reusable designs in the line incorporate some of San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks, imagery, and neighborhoods.

Blueprint Studios rents a variety of modern display furnishings engineered to contain the latest technology, including media towers, coffee tables, and bars fit with LCD displays. The company’s Museo collection also includes its new iPad station that can be branded and customized.

Rental company Archive Rentals has a showroom in San Clemente offering vintage items, handmade furnishings, and antiques for events. The company’s vintage Western- and camp-themed rentals (think reclaimed wood tables, picnic linens, horse tack, canoes, and retro Airstream trailers) are ideal for summer events.

Searching for modern-looking, green-minded centerpieces? Britton Neubacher-Caligure of Tend Living often eschews florals in favor of succulents, air plants, and cacti, to create organic-looking arrangements. Neubacher-Caligure also offers how-to workshops.

Scottsdale-based company BizBox offers solar-powered, portable pop-up buildings that can be used as mobile showrooms, food shops, retail stores, or tradeshow display centers. The sleek units can be purchased or leased, and feature glass walls, display panels, and a wraparound deck, all of which can be set up in about 20 minutes. The newest model features full-glass siding.

The new SculptLamps from Scottsdale-based SculptWare can work as centerpieces or cocktail-table accents. Available to rent in two sizes—14 inch, $45, or 30 inch, $65—the lamps include remote-controlled LEDs that can glow in 13 colors.

Available to rent for events in Arizona starting at $9,000, Just Light That offers pressure-sensitive interactive LED-lit floors in sizes up to 24 by 32 feet that can be synced to music. The floors can also display logos, animated images, scrolling text, or static branding.

Lititz, Pennsylvania-based production and scenic goods company Atomic Design has introduced its modular Buule and Laser panels. The 5-foot-wide fabric panels have zippers so you can customize the length and width of your backdrop. For easy shipping, a 50- by 30-foot drape fits in a 24-inch cardboard box that weighs 70 pounds.

Add a rock ’n’ roll vibe with tabletops from Max King Events that are made to look like acoustic and electric guitars. The tops can be used on 30- or 42-inch stands. The handcrafted tabletops are available in 12 designs. Prices start at $85.

The Little Glass Slipper is a new floral shop in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, owned by Cary Pereyra, who creates arrangements that offer a dose of aromatherapy. Her creations can include botanicals like echinacea for a weak immune system or mood-boosting lavender for seasonal depression.

Taylor Creative Inc. is now carrying Kartell’s invisible coffee table. A match for Louis Ghost chairs, the sleek Lucite tables rent for $150 each, and there are 16 available. Also new to Taylor’s inventory: Kartell’s invisible dining tables.

The new graffiti-inspired “Tag It” line from AFR Event Furnishings includes items such as leather sofas, chairs, acrylic tables, and ottomans that guests can permanently leave their mark on with Sharpies. The furniture items, which are for sale only, can be displayed in the office post-event.

Atlas Party Rental carries a variety of new brightly colored dishes that can add a splash to tabletops. The eye-catching purple-and-turquoise Luxe charger (pictured) rents for $8.

Little World Design specializes in sculptural, botanical objects and installations. Owners Heather Pando and Manuel Acosta favor long-lasting materials, like branches, seed pods, feathers, moss, stones, linen, and even real butterfly wings.

Holo-Walls offers interactive LED liquid tabletops filled with pressure-sensitive fluids that are designed to fit on 30-inch round cocktail tables. The illuminated, chrome-edged tiles are available to rent from $100 each; matching Liquid Fusion dance-floor tiles are also available, starting at $50 per tile.

The Vintage Table Company offers vintage china, glassware, and flatware sourced from estates, thrift stores, and flea markets, for a completely mismatched tabletop look.

Town and Country Event Rentals now offers the Cielo Blanco 4- by 8-foot dining table, available with custom fabric insets.

California-based La Tavola Fine Linen Rental has opened its first Las Vegas showroom. The company offers 11 linen collections, as well as coordinating pieces, like napkins and seat cushions.

For place settings that tie into the rustic, all-natural trend, rent Swift & Company’s 500 new Capri wood chargers for $7 per piece. Crafted from reclaimed wood and made by hand in the company’s Houston workshop, the chargers’ patinas and distress marks make for a striking tabletop element.

Event rental company Suite 206’s new Savile Row collection—from $55 to $350 for individual pieces—is inspired by the London street famous for its bespoke men’s tailoring shops. The masculine-looking furniture collection includes pieces such as the Wayly chair (pictured) and the tufted Ted settee in gray, silver, and black.

New England Country Rentals is a full-service Boston-based event rental company. The inventory includes bars, lounge furniture, china, flatware, chairs, glassware, and vintage decor items, but the company specializes in rustic custom-made tables, chairs, and benches.