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.
For an October 2012 wedding at the New York Public Library, Xochitl Gonzalez of AAB Productions designed a chuppah made of books. "We were inspired by the location, of course, but also by a display of books that the groom liked in a bookstore—and, of course, the lightbulb room at the Gramercy Park Hotel," Gonzalez said. "We used books to create the wedding canopy and created spirals as well as a 'shelf' at the top. We wanted a grand library feel, so we used the red drapes as a backdrop, and we opened them up after the cocktail hour. The canopy served as a bar backdrop."
In 2011, Target made perhaps the biggest statement possible using books—a 26-foot-tall sculpture made from 25,000 books. The installation, part of a kickoff event in New York for the retailer's Read Across America campaign, used Dr. Seuss books, which were later donated to local schools.
This year's Romance Novel Convention was held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas August 7 to 11. For an appropriately lavish—and bookish—prop, Romantic Victorian Home Collection designed a dress using the covers and pages of damaged books that had been marked for disposal by the local library.
An outward-facing shelf filled with books served as an appropriate, on-theme lectern for the Children's Book Choice Awards event in New York in May.
At the 2012 design showcase, David Stark's whimsical installation for sponsor Benjamin Moore played off the slogan “A whole new chapter in paint color technology is being written.” The library-inspired setting featured a table made from actual books with handcrafted pop-up books serving as a centerpiece.
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.
Bulgari's 2011 fund-raiser for Save the Children and Artists For Peace and Justice used real books—and graphic versions—to create a lavish library look at Ron Burkle's private Los Angeles manse. Sketched fabrics on the tent walls imitated library shelves, while children's books redone with white book jackets served as centerpieces for the tables.
At this year's Sundance Film Festival, the Mint Agency and its sister agency the Branding Bee hosted a series of premiere parties in a pop-up at 614 Main Street in Park City, Utah. As a subtle way to incorporate branding and signage from sponsors into the speakeasy-style decor, the production team used three bookshelves as step-and-repeats.
It may have had nothing to do with books or libraries per se, but Acer's 2010 press conference used floor-to-ceiling projections of books to create a cozy area within the white-walled event venue.
Blowups of pages from the American Cancer Society's history book hung throughout the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel at the springtime gala in Chicago. The pages contained significant facts about the society. HMR Designs handled decor.
In 2010, the lavish launch party for the world’s first dedicated Hermès men’s store turned a raw 20,000-square-foot New York space into the ultimate leisure spot for men. This included a 3,000-square-foot library where the focal point was a wall of 8,000 hand-dyed books.
In 2011, In Style's Golden Globes party with Warner Brothers at the Beverly Hilton had a chic library look designed by Thomas Ford. Ford was inspired by a luxury penthouse and constructed a tent over the hotel pool to transform the space, creating the feel of a dark library with custom black leather tufted couches and 3,000 wrapped books on elaborate bookshelves.
At the Chicago theater's 2012 gala, the theme was "the written word." In Event Creative's decor, pages from a script hung from round chandeliers on the ceiling.
Rhona Frazin, president and C.E.O. of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, said the planning team aimed to "bring the library into the space that we were in" for the benefit at the Forum at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2010. At the end of the evening, guests could take home the Toni Morrison books that topped each table. (Morrison was the evening's guest of honor.) More thematic touches included traditional library lamps on each table.
Blowups of book covers and playbills from works by previous honorees served as decor at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles's gala in 2009.
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.
The event's menu items also reflected the black-and-white theme.
Instead of a red carpet, designers laid down a black-and-white-striped carpet at the entrance.
This year's event took place at Toronto's the Carlu in February. To bring the old-Hollywood-style Casablanca theme to life, planners filled the dining room with tables decked in simple black linens and surrounded with white-cushioned chairs.
Books and the printed page inspired the Walrus Gala in Toronto in January. The black-and-white color scheme carried over into decor elements such as festive cocktail straws.
For the 2008 event in Toronto, graffiti artist Mike Echlin painted trees against a black backdrop for a haunted-forest effect.
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.
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.
Here's a clever idea for a black-and-white centerpiece: at the 2009 event in Miami, miniature working pianos were used as centerpieces in the dining room.
At the 2007 event in Washington, designer David Tutera wrapped napkins in paper filmstrips to create an old Hollywood look.
The 2006 ball had a look inspired by writer and illustrator Edward Gorey. Grayson Bakula Design's enchanted forest looked slightly more sinister with Bentley Meeker's barren branch projections.
The 2011 event in Boston had a Batman theme. In a subterranean carnival area, black-and-white signs for sponsors hung above the games. Winners received prizes from the designated sponsor.
At an HP promotion in Los Angeles in 2013, a palette of black and white created a visually striking scene.
The 2011 Emmy Governors Ball had the theme of "mod illusions" with a 1960s-style black-and-white decor scheme that hearkened back to the era of Truman Capote's famous bash.
At the museum's 2012 event, a streamlined, modern bar stood at the center of the room with an arrangement of black-and-white lanterns hanging overhead.
Striped tablecloths and mismatched seating offered a funky take on the theme at the 2011 event in Los Angeles. White messages decorated black walls in the dining room, and bright green floral arrangements added a pop of color.
The 2013 event took place at a Los Angeles mansion, and black-and-white decor took on a residential feel. To celebrate the heritage of British Airways, the Union Jack appeared on black-and-white pillows at a seating group that surrounded a modern fire pit.
The theme played out in an exotic, draped setting at the 2010 premiere in New York. The venue was divided into three distinct areas, one of which was the black-and white-toned Rink Bar. The producers built custom cabanas in the area, using striped draping, votive candles, and seven-watt globe lights for illumination.
In 2012, the symphony decked its ball in elegant, black-and-white decor from Blueprint Studios.
In 2010, the summertime event took place at an East Hampton sculpture garden and preserve. Presenting a more casual take on the black-and-white theme, planners erected a tented white lounge with large black scrims. The scrims displayed lyrics from honoree Laurie Anderson's songs, including "Falling," "Strange Perfumes," and "Thinking of You."
At the 2011 fund-raiser in Miami, Truman Capote's famous Black and White Ball inspired the look. Deco Productions created two 16- by 42-foot prints to display on either side of the stage, one showing a reclining model, the other showing a large eyeball. Each was divided into six individually framed panels and suspended from the ceiling.
Cheryl Cecchetto of Sequoia Productions executed the “romantic rhapsody in red” theme at the 2012 Emmys Governors Ball in Los Angeles with a giant rose concept and copious amounts of the color.
Stoelt Productions upped the excitement for the 2012 Clio awards after-party at New York’s American Museum of Natural History by flooding the event with red lighting.
The 2012 Pencer Brain Trust Gala in Toronto used flamboyant orange hues to support its edgy, rock theme.
Even cocktails at the 2012 Pencer Brain Trust Gala were infused with the color.
Billy Butchkavitz’s design inspiration at HBO’s 2009 Golden Globes party in Los Angeles came from the colorful “emotional architecture” style of Luis Barragán and vintage ’60s textiles. Butchkavitz washed restaurant Circa 55 and the adjoining pool area at the Beverly Hilton in a banana yellow animal print.
Torches floated on lily-pad-like structures in the Beverly Hilton's pool, which reflected yellow decor elements from HBO’s 2009 Golden Globes party.
Lush canopies of natural greenery popped against neon green Lucite tabletops at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2013 Party in the Garden benefit in New York.
At the Greater Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events’ annual fund-raising gala in 2012, the Emerald City Lounge was aptly colored and had an eerie feel.
Blue lighting and sequined tablecloths made for a striking look at Ronald McDonald House Toronto’s holiday season gala in December 2012.
Event planner André Wells designed the 2010 Washington Ballet ball around the gala chair’s favorite color. Nearly every shade of purple was used in event, dubbed the “Purple Rain Ball.”
Spoons of Eastern Shore crab were passed on lavender serving trays at the 2010 Washington Ballet ball.
More than 1,200 guests donned white garb for the fresh concept of Dîner en Blanc’s flash-mob-style dinner in New York in 2011.
At UrbanDaddy and Stoli’s launch event in New York in 2012, a pure white room was later transformed into a playful and colorful space as guests painted on the walls and lighting projections filled the room.
At Marc Jacobs’s final show for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week in October 2013, a set filled with escalators, a fairground carousel, a fountain, and more was rendered in all black.
Inspired by the “power of the press” shown in season 2 of The Newsroom, designer Billy Butchkavitz used a black-and-white newsprint palette for the show’s 2013 premiere party in Los Angeles.
