Fresh fruit decorated a hard-to-miss Svedka vodka logo that floated in a pool.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
A “fruit toss” game let guests pitch pineapples, lemons, and other produce into baskets attached to a colorful, branded wall.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
Flower-filled pineapples and Svedka bottles decorated the seating areas.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
Organizers bypassed vases in favor of pineapples, which housed vibrant floral arrangements.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
Colorful fruit arrangements adorned carts that served as drink stations.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
Pineapples, lemons, and Svedka vodka bottles dotted a step-and-repeat fashioned to resemble the feathered headdresses worn by Rio Carnival dancers.
Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraksPhoto.com
Photo: Chuck Fazio
Performance artists manning different stations throughout the venue sported ghoulish face makeup.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
In keeping with the creepy decor, guests could entertain themselves by designing their own tombstones.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
Tombstones, skulls, and funeral wreaths made for macabre decor and fit in perfectly with the event's funeral theme.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
Terrariums housing skulls, candles, and rosary beads added to the moody setting.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
A couch channeled the French Creole decor popular on the show.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
Skulls added edge to delicate metalina rose arrangements.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
A massive tree that sat in the center of the ballroom brought a bit of the bayou to Hollywood.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
Guests, including True Blood's Deborah Ann Woll (pictured, far left), posed with fake fangs and alongside a coffin at a photo station.
Photo: Gabor Ekecs
Last year, Hermès threw a beachside bash known as “Les Jeux d’Hermès,” or Hermès games, with oversize jewelry installations, models on trampolines, and a branded ringtoss. Balloons wrapped in Hermès silk scarf prints stood at the entrance.
Photo: Matthew Carasella
To disguise the concrete barricade, Hermès added mirrors to the entire stretch of a lower beach wall, reflecting the activities and sights on the sand.
Photo: Matthew Carasella
A seven-foot sandcastle heralded the start of a major residential construction project in Miami last year. Aria Development Group celebrated the groundbreaking of its luxury condominium, 321 Ocean, with a ceremony for city officials, buyers, and friends and family. Guests gathered around the sandcastle—a whimsical replica of the forthcoming property—for a toast, then headed to nearby restaurant Estiatorio Milos for a reception.
Photo: Jose Larrotta
Victoria’s Secret Pink's Spring Break Beach Party took place in Destin, Florida, in March, decorating the sandy locale with customized surfboards and offering a juice bar, giveaways, dance challenges, and music from DJ Irie.
Photo: Don Juan Moore/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret
The Model Beach Volleyball Tournament returned to South Beach for the fifth year in February. The free public competition drew coed teams from modeling agencies in Miami for the two-day event, which saw models dressed head to toe by sponsor Wildfox Couture. Organizers even worked the clothing company's logo into the design of the tournament's net.
Photo: George Martinez
In 2009, Mattel celebrated Barbie's 50th anniversary with a bash for 200 in Los Angeles. Playing off the Malibu Dream House toy—a coveted accessory for the iconic doll—organizers picked a real-life beach house on Pacific Coast Highway and went wild with full-size incarnations of the doll's tiny treasures and pleasures. With the beach as a backdrop, guests picked up signature drinks such as Barbie Doll-icious, Ken's Caiprirosca, Strawberry Blonde, and It's a Pink Thing from an alfresco bar.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
For the Louis Vuitton Charlotte Perriand V.I.P. dinner during Art Basel last year, the luxury brand set up an alfresco table right on the beach. The event had a chic, minimalist look with glowing orbs hanging overhead.
Photo: David Atlan
The iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party drew more than 2,500 people for daytime and evening concerts at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel last year. Among the eye-catching details was an armchair made of ice, with the Visit Florida hashtag and sunglasses frozen inside.
Photo: Courtesy of Visit Florida
In 2011, the Wolfsonian-Florida International University honored architect Rene Gonzalez with an intimate dinner on the beach. The 48-person affair was planned by Jose Zaldivar of Fiction Events, who covered the tables with burlap cloth and driftwood.
Photo: Sonja Garnitschnig
At Cosmopolitan en Español’s beach bash at Nikki Beach last June, burlap gift bags stocked with fashion and beauty products had the feel of a beach-day carryall.
Photo: Nicolas Stipcianos
In 2009, Yelp lured New Yorkers to an urban beach bash with promises of cocktails, barbecue, and activities. Held at the now-closed Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, the event also offered handheld fans and misting stations to keep attendees cool.
Photo: Entwined Studios
In 2007, Boost Mobile's barbecue at the pop-up Polaroid Beach House in Malibu offered surf lessons on the beach in front of the property.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
When Cosmopolitan brought more than 700 bikini-clad locals, tourists, and spring breakers to Miami Beach for a stunt in 2009, the magazine created a station for guests to get sunscreen applied by shirtless male ambassadors. The concept was tied to Cosmopolitan's "Practice Safe Sun" campaign.
Photo: Mitchell Zachs for BizBash
Fox's Television Critics Association party at Los Angeles's Gladstone's in 2011 took full advantage of the beachy Malibu location. The press wall—a powder-coated steel frame and cable with a grid of floating Fox logos—allowed the beach and ocean behind it to become a part of the photo backdrop.
Photo: Mark Davis
The CW took over a Malibu lot on 300 feet of Pacific Ocean frontage for a 2008 premiere party for 90210, where an illuminated sign of the show's name provided a focal point and directed attention to the ocean views.
Photo: Joel H. Mark
At the opening party for Delta Air Lines Global Sales Conference in 2011, American Express provided white flip-flops marked with its blue logo. As the 850 guests made their way through the party set up around the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin’s pool and beach, the sandals left imprints of the brand's name in the sand.
Photo: Kayla Hernandez for BizBash
In 2011, Victoria’s Secret Pink took over Miami's Lummus Park for its Pink Nation Beach Bash. There, guests had the chance to spin the wheel to win Pink-branded giveaway items.
Photo: WorldRedEye.com/Courtesy Victoria's Secret
The 2008 launch of Wonderwall, surfer Laird Hamilton's surf and skate apparel collection with Steve & Barry's stores, was held at L.A.'s Paradise Cove beach, where a white picket fence on the technically public beach contained the intimate event.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
At Amsterdam Billiard Club, pool balls featured the event logo as well as branding for the Showtime drama Ray Donovan.
Photo: Thrillist
Cigars and cigar cutters also displayed the logos for Ray Donovan and the event. Other branded items promoting the boxing drama included pint glasses and autograph cards for former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe to sign.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
A street team of models in branded pedicabs delivered pizza to guests attending Best Day of Your Life events throughout the East Village.
Photo: Thrillist
Guests could get branded airbrushed tattoos, choosing from three images: a cheeseburger, a bottle of beer, or the Thrillist logo.
Photo: Dobrin Marchev
Stoli hosted a summer dance party at Brazen Fox and gave away branded bottles of sunsuncreen—useful swag on the hot summer day.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
Stoli also handed out branded sunglasses and sweatbands. Stoli served spiked popsicles that revealed the event logo on the wooden stick after guests finished them.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
Even the phone charging station featured the event's brand imagery.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
Guests checked in at the concert venue Webster Hall, which featured the event name, hashtag, and host's name on its marquee.
Photo: Thrillist
Guests wore branded hats, credentials, and other items that advertised the event.
Photo: Thrillist
Mirror decals of the Best Day of Your Life event hashtag as well as Thrillist's logo decorated one venue.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
Guests wore Thrillist T-shirts at the "Sweet & Intense" lounge at Bar13 hosted by hard cider brand Johnny Appleseed, which served chili pepper candy apples.
Photo: Christos Katsiaouni
Entry wristbands featured the event hashtag and logos for sponsors such as Johnny Appleseed.
Photo: Thrillist
On Stairs
On June 24, Saveur hosted its Summer BBQ at the Boat Basin Cafe in New York. Previewing some highlights of the annual culinary affair, the event had a staircase decked with words such as "cocktails," "sweets," and "music."
Photo: Beth Kormanik/BizBash
In a Hallway
At a Toronto event hosted by fashion brand Bustle in 2009, organizers lit the stairs leading to the upper patio of Ultra in pink and screened an avant-garde video on the wall halfway up the staircase.
Photo: Visualbass Photography
In an Elevator
Carasco Photography hosted “Brides, Bubbles, and Bliss” at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago in 2013. The event had "bubbles" in its title for a reason. Not only were there plenty of Veuve Clicquot champagne bars in the Skyline Loft, but there was also an illuminated bar in the venue's spacious elevators. Guests sipped on flutes of the sparkly drink on their way up to the event.
Photo: Carasco Photography
On a Loading Dock
At a Museum of Contemporary Art benefit in Chicago in 2009, guests entered the arty party through the museum's loading dock. The space was covered with bubble wrap, which guests were encouraged to jump on and pop.
Photo: Jeremy Lawson
In a Urinal
One of the twists at Smirnoff's 2001 Twistotica product launch event in New York was that the men's and women's restrooms were switched. So the planning team at EventQuest put flowers in the urinals of the new women's bathroom.
Photo: Courtesy of Smirnoff
For the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s gala, held in Miami in December, Shiraz Events designed miniature terrariums in fishbowls, that were placed on highboy tables during cocktail hour.
Photo: Courtesy of Shiraz
The Mint Agency used sand, shells, and bowls holding live fish as centerpieces at the September premiere dinner for Spring Breakers during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Photo: Jennifer Meriano
For the Clean the World gala, held at the Peabody Orlando in 2011, Special Event Floral filled fishbowls with blue marbles, then added battery-operated lights. The Peabody Orlando's duck soap appeared to float on top of each centerpiece.
Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash
David Monn decorated the Park Avenue Armory in New York for the 2012 holiday season. Monn used candles housed inside glass fishbowls to line the baseboards inside the ornate space.
Photo: Courtesy of the Park Avenue Armory
Held on March 9, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science’s annual Galaxy Gala had an aquatic theme inspired by the museum’s new facility now under construction, which includes a 500,000-gallon aquarium. Produced by Jose Dans and held at the JW Marriott Marquis, the various centerpiece designs by Wow Factor included stacked fishbowls filled with sand, lichen, pincushion proteas, and red branches.
Photo: Meg Pukel
Dinner at the California Science Center’s Discovery Ball, held in Los Angeles in March, took place underneath the wings of the Endeavour space shuttle. Reflecting the space theme, illuminated tables were topped with mini solar systems and tropical flowers in glass bowls.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
At the 2009 awards reception for Commercial Real Estate Women, a national association representing women in the industry, fishbowls holding live goldfish were embedded into the bars, adding to the evening's aquatic theme.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash
For New York Design Center's table at Diffa’s Dining by Design in New York in 2011, Coffinier Ku Design folded red napkins into flower shapes and topped each one with a flower- and water-filled glass bowl.
Photo: Emily Gilbert for BizBash
At Diffa’s Dining by Design in Chicago in 2011, Erg International’s table, designed by Weetu, was topped with filmstrip-filled glass bowls.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
Moods of Norway’s Fashion’s Night Out Party
To celebrate the opening of its Stateside store, Moods of Norway hosted a "Really, Really Blond Party" for Fashion's Night Out 2012 in New York, at which all attendees were given blond wigs in order to achieve the classic Norwegian look.
Photo: Melissa Schorsch/BizBash
Electric Run
In November, the first Electric Run was held in Costa Mesa, California. The trippy nighttime 5K saw more than 10,000 participants dressed in glow-in-dark costumes. The entrance fee included a custom-designed T-shirt, an LED bracelet, a glow necklace, and glowing sunglasses. Racers were also encouraged to adorn themselves with glow sticks, LED-lit clothes, and neon colors.
Photo: Courtesy of Electric Run
The Museum of Contemporary Art's ArtEdge Gala
This year's ArtEdge gala in Chicago was held in the Museum of Contemporary Art's warehouse, with an appropriately gritty factory vibe. To match the event's industrial feel, the co-chairs draped guests with caution tape as they arrived on the scene.
Photo: Bob Carl
Performa's White on White Party
At its 2006 benefit in New York, performance art organization Performa integrated partygoers directly into the design scheme by asking them to dress in white and then video projections to turned the guests into human movie screens. For guests who didn’t arrive in white, the organization put together a group called the Emergency Sewing Project to craft white clothes; the team of sewers was intended as both a service and a performance piece.
Photo: BizBash
Performa’s Relache—The Party Fund-Raising Gala
Performa’s most recent gala in December also incorporated attendees into the event's surrealist theme: Invitations instructed guests to wear black and white haute couture. On site, there was a station where the event’s 500 attendees could further accessorize with headpieces formed with mannequin heads and other costumes from designer Lika Volkova.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Absolut X Masquerade Ball
Liquor brand Absolut hosted its edgy, art-driven Absolut X Masquerade Ball in Chicago in November, where guests were invited to wear black-and-silver hand-painted masks, as well as transform themselves at makeover stations.
Photo: Courtesy of Ketchum
The Color Run
The Color Run 5K toured to 53 cities in 2012, with more than 600,000 participants willing to douse themselves in bright hues. The runners were asked to wear white shirts, and when they reached the designated color zones dotting the course, volunteers and staffers doused them with colorful powder. "I wanted to add something ... that could serve as a sort of visual reward for all the hard work these runners put into training for the event," said founder Travis Snyder.
Photo: Courtesy of the Color Run
Dîner en Blanc
Started more than 25 years ago in Paris, Dîner en Blanc is an impromptu picnic now held in dozens of public spaces throughout the world each year. Event organizers ask guests to dress in all-white clothing and bring a list of items, including white plastic folding chairs and tables, white tablecloths and napkins, and white dinnerware.
Photo: Daniel the Photographer Serrette
UrbanDaddy and Stoli's "White Room" Event
UrbanDaddy's "white room" event in November—an affair created in partnership with Stoli to promote the vodka brand's new campaign and flavors—instructed its 350 attendees to dress in all-white attire to match the all-white decor in the venue. As the night progressed, guests splattered the walls and their clothes (protected by white lab coats supplied by organizers) with colorful paint.
Photo: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles Gala
The vision of artist Marina Abramović dictated the look and feel at MoCA’s 2011 gala. The event's 750 guests were asked to change into matching white lab coats as they entered the space, an experiment that was designed to allow everyone to participate in the evening on an equal playing field. "You had all these people in expensive outfits, but they put on the lab coats and that was that,” said event producer Carleen Cappelletti. "It took away the hierarchy you feel at an event."
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
'Playboy' Super Bowl Party Presented by Crown Royal
Produced by Caravents, Playboy’s recent Super Bowl party had a Mardi Gras theme and decor elements meant to invoke an authentic New Orleans feel. To go along with the themed decor, guests could select a colorful masquerade mask to wear as they entered the party.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
Whitney Museum of American Art 75th Anniversary Benefit
Back in 2005, the Whitney’s fall gala incorporated blue neon centerpieces created by artist Richard Tuttle. Accordingly, invitations specified that guests dress in the Pantone Matching System color blue 630 to correspond with the significant color displayed in Tuttle’s art. Guests including Chloë Sevigny, Evelyn Lauder, and Peggy Siegal complied.
Photo: Arlene Sandler/Lensgirl
