The Friends of the High Line benefit returned to New York's Pier 57 in May for an evening dubbed the "Photo Party." Overhead, strings of café lights hung with bunting crafted from photographs of the park attached to clothespins. Eclectic-looking chandeliers also dotted the ceiling.
Dubbed "Passport to Discovery," the American Cancer Society's Discovery Ball at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago had a time-travel theme that nodded to the society's past, present, and future as it celebrated its 100-year history. At the registration area, the 900 guests checked in at a desk that resembled an old-fashioned ticket counter, and HMR Designs' decor included worn suitcases, vintage train schedules, and other tropes that brought the year 1913 to life.
The April 22 ball was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. On a central staircase, candles were arranged to dramatically spell out "H" and "W," the initials of sponsoring company Harry Winston Inc.
The Chicago Botanic Garden's Antiques & Garden Fair Preview Evening took place on April 23. Landscape architect Maria Smithburg and Manifredini Landscaping & Design lined the entrance with red buckets of varying heights that held lush, cheerful arrangements of purple tulips.
The Metropolitan Opera celebrated the opening of its latest production, Otello, with a post-show reception and dinner on October 9. Designed and produced by Tyger Productions and held on the Met’s Grand Tier, guests sat at 24-foot mirrored tables that reflected the dramatic architecture. Tall gilded crystal candelabras holding boxwood topiaries ran down the center of the tables, while gold Venetian glass chargers and flatware added to the look.
At an AAB Productions wedding—this one at the Altman Building in 2012—the groom was a writer. In that spirit, the table numbers popped out of the pages of open books. The numbers themselves were carved out of book pages using an X-Acto knife.
At the Toronto gala in 2012, stacks of books supported and decorated the dessert tables. Desserts were served on open books, and chocolate petit fours were topped with a decorative page of writing. Typewriters, globes, and open books added to the presentation.
In one of the Lexus grand tasting's inspiring food presentations during L.A. Food & Wine, Big Sur's Post Ranch Inn served mini shaved ice cones in a metal bucket set up like a beach scene, with sugar for sand. Ingredients for the dessert came from the venue's garden.
