Party Themes

An archway of colored balloons (acquired locally through the Village Party Store) marked the entrance to Monday evening's presentation for the Stella McCartney resort 2013 collection at the New York Marble Cemetery.

To access the main space for the event, guests had to walk through a long passageway. As a fun diversion, the producers set up a series of funhouse mirrors that hinted at the presentation's carnival motif.

Set on just over a half-acre of land, some 250 editors, retailers, and McCartney's celebrity friends enjoyed an early-evening carnival in complete privacy. The setup started the morning of the event, and everything was broken down and removed that night.

The Soul Rebels, a New Orleans-based brass band, performed live throughout the two-hour event and served as the evening's sole source of music.

At the entrance to the garden was a display showcasing Stella McCartney resort 2013 accessories. As the event was presenting new product, the designer wanted to ensure the pieces received their own distinct vignette.

As with all McCartney presentations, the models were encouraged to mingle and interact with guests. At the Monday event the models, clad in the resort 2013 collection, played games and chatted with guests. In terms of groupings, the gathering was more organic than seasons past, with models arranged together according to the patterns or colors of their garments.

The high striker, or test-your-strength game, was originally meant for young children and models to utilize, but soon found fans among the attendees.

Carnival games, such as the ring toss, were mostly positioned against one far wall in a straight line. All games featured some sort of special Stella McCartney branding, but done in a playful and casual manner.

McCartney enlisted some of her friends' children (all age 6 and up and dressed in outfits from the designer's kids' line) to man a lemonade stand. Donations were encouraged and proceeds benefited the restoration and maintenance of the venue's historic walls.

Mary Giuliani provided the evening's mostly vegan carnival treats, a menu that included black bean burgers and grilled Mexican corn skewers served from a grill station, as well as passed items like veggie tacos, grilled peaches topped with ricotta and honey, and candy and caramel lady apples.

In addition to the main food station, two dessert stands were set up featuring sweets from Coolhaus and Pie Corps (pictured). At the latter, guests could also take home prepackaged jars of fruit cobbler.

At the area for Coolhaus, attendees could customize their own ice cream sandwiches. The ice cream was kept chilled in special coolers on-site.

As a nod to McCartney's love of flowers, a large cart overflowing with roses and peonies stood near the entrance to the venue. As guests left, they were given small bouquets or single stems as a festive gift.

The mac and cheese station was set up as a two-part offering: guests could either select a mini serving placed on a spinach cone off a Ferris-wheel-shaped stand, or opt for a full cup that could be customized with toppings like veggie bacon bits, truffle oil, jalapenos, scallions, or sriracha sauce.

Among the desserts served were "big top pop rock" cake balls, orbs of vanilla buttermilk, or red velvet cake topped with red-and-white stripes or confetti sprinkles.

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.