Carasco Photography's “Brides, Bubbles, and Bliss” event took place at Chicago's Union Station earlier this spring. Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event decked her reception table with a long runner of green and white hydrangeas. The table had a gentle, flowery fragrance surrounding it.
Studio 54 inspired the look and feel of the Recording Academy's Grammy after-party at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2011. Curtains made from reflective beads added a vintage touch, and lots of sparkle.
The renovated Riverside ballroom at Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin Downtown in Austin, Texas, was unveiled during the city's Taste of Downtown event in September. In the spirit of the foodie fest, the venue's centerpieces featured produce, such as artichokes and potatoes, in fruit and vegetable cartons.
For its annual client and advertiser dinner, Swoop, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based media company, enlisted the help of chef Marc Forgione, who decorated his TriBeCa restaurant with vines, leaves, moss, and real grass carpeting. Animal sounds served as background music for the event.
Monument names on the National Mall as well as significant events were rendered in oversize letters and suspended from the ceiling at the Trust for the National Mall's annual benefit luncheon in May.
At the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, held at Will Rogers State Park in October, Mille Fiori Floral Design mixed succulents with marigolds in the brand's signature color for some of the arrangements.
Guests received a potted succulent from florist Multiflor as a take-home gift at Washingtion-based 360 Live Media's office party in September.
At last year's Boston gala, tables had woodsy decorations and names inspired by fairy tales. Some guests, for example, ate dinner at the Thumbelina table.
For the Toronto company's 2009 holiday party, chef Domenic Chiaromonte of Match Restaurant created a fairy tale-inspired menu. The chef, known for his scientific flair, used unexpected ingredients like edible paper adorned with the Capital C logo to create themed crackers (to accompany mini servings of butternut squash soup) and edible silver sparkle to top mini lobster burgers with double brie. For dessert, Chiaromonte served pink chocolate Cinderella shoes, jelly belly popcorn, flower pot mousse, and chocolate cheesecake orbs.
At the Aladdin-themed fund-raiser, held in Boston in 2010, servers wore fezzes as they passed hors d'oeuvres.
As a nod to the poisoned apple in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, escort cards at the fairy tale-themed gala were calligraphy-printed cards attached to red apples. The event was held in Washington in November.
In 2011, the Paris event included a fashion show with models sporting looks inspired by classic fairy-tale dresses. Flanked by the stage and bar, a 246-foot-long reflective runway ran the entire length of the tent and served as the site for the show.
The 2009 event in Toronto had a "Once Upon a Time" theme. The cocktail reception included a teacup ride.
Projections of moving bubbles lit up the opening-night party for the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid in 2008.
To play up the Cinderella theme at the opera's 2010 gala in Toronto, organizers placed a white carriage outside the entrance to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
In 2010, Chicago's ballet company hosted a Cinderella-themed luncheon. Dessert was a dark-chocolate pumpkin filled with mousse and garnished with raspberries, hot-pink sugar, and a chocolate "XO."
The 2008 event also had a Cinderella theme. Guests entered on a pink carpet, flanked by trumpeters and two 8-year-old boys dressed as footmen.
At the tabletop design competition in Washington in 2010, Gloria Rhodes and Capital Party Rentals took the Princess and the Pea theme literally by placing peas and pea pods on the utensils and the menu.
The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, held its annual gala February 7 at the Bullock Texas State History Museum with an "Off the Wall" theme. Both the gala and after-party featured statement floral pieces designed by Mandarin Design Lab. The group was inspired by the theme, as well as the colors, from the event invitations. The entry piece at the after-party, held at the Blanton Museum, was a collection of moss, vines, and flowers mounted onto four hanging frames.
The N.B.A. House presented by BBVA Compass at Skylight at Moynihan Station allowed fans to take part in a number of basketball challenges on a half-court specifically built for the space. Visitors, including N.B.A. star Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets, could also interact with technology at the American Express Pivot experience. Plumlee is one of four players featured in the video installation, which was created using 50 GoPro cameras at 24 different angles to capture the movies. The activation also included a film on each player's personal journey to make the All-Star Game.
Marriott launched its Moxy boutique hotel brand at Nokia Plaza L.A. Live in January with a program targeting millennials. The event included the creation of a paint-by-numbers-style piece hinting at the secretive behaviors in bars and hotel rooms.
The Chicago Botanic Garden hosted a preview party for its Orchid Show on February 13. The evening's four-sided bar was positioned in the center of four giant planters with towering orchid displays. Orchids were also used to garnish the fruity cocktails that the bartenders poured that evening.
The New York Botanical Garden's orchid show runs February 28 to April 19, and the garden hosted its Orchid Dinner earlier this month. A particularly colorful display saw orchids sprouting out of paint cans, and linens had painterly designs. Roric Tobin designed the table for the high-end interior design firm Geoffrey Bradfield.
Looking for a creative way to inaugurate a new venue? When Whole Foods Market opens a new location, it dedicates the space with a bread-breaking ceremony. The grand opening of its downtown Miami location in January featured such an event with a long, braided loaf broken in front of the store.
The Boston Ballet Ball took place at the Castle at Park Plaza on February 7. The "Camellia" theme was inspired by the ballet's current production of Lady of the Camellias, and auction paddles were presented in an inventive way that matched the evening's look. The red paddles, held in flower boxes filled with greenery, looked like colorful blooms.
The fund-raiser, held on February 7 at the House of Blues in Boston, had a '90s theme. Decor took on a look meant to reflect the decade, with bright colors, geometric patterns, and houndstooth linens. Corinthian Events handled decor.
Need a gift idea? Talk about the ultimate all-in-one charger: Weego’s jump starter battery pack (from $109.99) can be used to start cars and charge phones, tablets, speakers, and other portable USB devices. The item is also small enough to fit in your pocket. It’s available from TCMPi, the Corporate Marketplace, and can be customized with a logo.
Looking to give events a fun burst of neon color? Find inspiration here: A 10-foot Lite-Brite-style decor piece spelled out the band Fun's name at an AOL and T-Mobile concert event in 2012 in Los Angeles.
The New York Botanical Garden's annual Orchid Dinner took place at the Mandarin Oriental at Columbus Circle on February 10. In keeping with tradition, the evening featured large-scale orchid installations on its tabletops. One such arrangement, designed by Bowman Dahl Floral & Event Design, combined deep pink orchids with moss, twigs, and small white accent flowers.
Another arrangement featured white orchids in glass terrarium-like vessels with earthy accents of ferns and dirt. The designer was Ray Booth of McAlpine Booth & Ferrier Interiors.
Ethereal strings of white orchids cascaded above another table at the New York event. The arrangement, created by Anthony Brownie Flowers & Events, also had a ring of white orchids clustered at its base.
A particularly colorful display saw orchids sprouting out of paint cans, and linens had painterly designs. Roric Tobin designed the table for the high-end interior design firm Geoffrey Bradfield.
The Chicago Botanic Garden hosted a preview party for its Orchid Show on February 13. The evening's four-sided bar was positioned in the center of four giant planters with towering orchid displays.
Orchids were also used to garnish the fruity cocktails that the bartenders doled out that evening.
Event Creative handled decor for the evening and decorated tabletops with orchids in unusual holders—such as a piano-theme planter—instead of in traditional vases.
Culinary Landscape, the in-house caterer at the Chicago Botanic Garden, served shrimp and papaya salad on trays decorated with bright orchids.
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. The event offered lounge seating under a lacy canopy.
Underscoring the theme of Tassels and Tastemakers, dream catchers hung throughout the space. The ethereal decorations had woven-in hashtags that encouraged guests to post pictures to social media.
