event themes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

WM Events suggests holding a carnival with games as a way to raise donations.

Blueprint Studios recommends timing events strategically, such as holding a party planned around a major sporting event.

Blueprint Studios incorporated a marketplace theme into a recent event.

WM Events incorporated technology through a digital silhouette artist.

Liz Page Associates used BidPal to monitor auction items.

WM Events used decor as part of a raffle for a Hands on Atlanta benefit.

Hewlett-Packard marked the launch of its new portfolio of Windows 8 touch technology products with an event in October that had attendees controlling patterned projections. Stations set up around the perimeter of New York's Terminal 5 let guests play with touch-screen computers while simultaneously changing the look and color of the lighting that illuminated panels overhead.

UrbanDaddy's "white room" event—an affair created in partnership with Stoli to promote the vodka brand's new campaign and flavors—invited guests to create the night's decor using paint and brushes. The November party in New York also supplied its attendees with lab coats and goggles to protect clothes from their creative tasks.

Lifestyle images layered with infrared technology at Target's after-party for the MTV Movie Awards in 2008 allowed guests to interact with the images using the heat and movement of their bodies.

To encourage attendees to make on-site donations at its December Charity:Ball in New York, nonprofit Charity:Water sold yellow helium-filled balloons for $5 each. Guests could release their brightly colored inflatables into a 28-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide net rigged to the ceiling of the 69th Regiment Armory. As the inflatable orbs filled the structure, it started to resemble a giant yellow Jerry can, Charity:Water's signature symbol.

At the Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design event in Chicago in November, the table for CS Interiors designed by Casa Spazio with Atelier Turner was reminiscent of an artist's studio. The vignette inside the Merchandise Mart had paper walls, ample brushes, and open jars of paint, and guests were encouraged to add to the background mural.

David Stark's design for Cooper-Hewitt's 2011 National Design Awards was dominated by the use of fluorescent tape supplied by 3M. In addition to an installation that displayed a scale version of the art institution's Upper East Side home, the cocktail hour had a wall where gala guests could draw or write about what design means to them using brightly colored adhesive strips.

Combining a live performance by Coldplay with digital components, the American Express Unstaged concert in October 2011 saw the stage decorated with a backdrop of butterflies. The video installation that was projected on LCD screens for the Madrid show was a collage of designs the audience members were invited to create online.

In 2009, Louis Vuitton debuted its new in-store boutique at Saks Fifth Avenue by building an indoor garden at the New York store. The centerpiece of the event's design was a wishing tree, where guests were invited to pen their answers to the question "Where will your journey take you?" and hang the messages on strands of ribbon dangling from its branches.

During the September 2010 run of New York Fashion Week, Chanel reopened its SoHo store with a big bash. To leave most of the retail space free of additional decor elements—and allow the 500 guests to move around—the producers erected two black tents outside and turned the inside walls into an interactive graffiti room. In this area, guests could use custom paint cans to digitally tag oversize LED screens.

To highlight the event's focus on children and fund-raising for a charter school, the 2006 Robin Hood Foundation gala had giant chalkboards in the reception area set up in New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. David Stark sketched local landmarks and iconic scenes on the walls, and, during the event, guests could add their own designs with chalk provided in bowls on the cocktail tables.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lined the walls of the museum's main entrance with crooked black-and-white doors, recreating Alice's fall through the rabbit hole.

Chicka set up a four-sided main bar atop the museum's fountain. This year, planners moved DJ Chris Laich's perch above the bar and used grass-covered bar tops that incorporated mirrors and playing cards.

The 3,600-square-foot Big Maze, which took over a third of the event's footprint, remained open throughout the party and provided an additional interactive element.

New sponsor Celebrity Cruises served the red "Drink Me" cocktail—made from Patron tequila, ginger beer, and lime and boysenberry juices—in potion bottles with cork stoppers.

The publisher's reception remained on the second floor within two gallery spaces. Chicka used a vibrant color palette to create the Mad Hatter's Tea Party atmosphere with blue and white draped walls and table linens, and signage printed on a top hat.

Within the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Chicka set up the Mad Hat Shoppe for guests to choose their favorite hat—each with a Washingtonian button on it—to wear at the event and take home.

Occasions Caterers served hot tea with pink, yellow, green, and blue iced cookies for dessert in the publisher's reception.

AT&T focused on guest interaction with a branded photobooth from Booth-o-rama, as well as charging stations and an interactive card game on iPads. Winners of the matching game received a wine-carrying bag.

In addition to its car displays, BMW had Chicka create an on-theme lounge with white sofas and sitting chairs with red accent pillows surrounded by black-and-white draping and faux-grass hedges to create privacy.

Alexandria-based Haute Dogs created a kimchi dog with spicy pickled radish and cucumber specifically for the event. The eatery also served its signature Duck, Duck Dog with hoisin sauce, cucumber, and scallions.

BLT Steak served deviled eggs topped with Maryland crab meat and shaved summer truffle.

Del Campo chef Victor Albisu served spoons of salmon ceviche atop an avocado puree.