At the Elle Women in Hollywood awards this month at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, long-time producer Caravents worked with Elle event director Katie Crown on the overall vision and event design. Blush tones in details from the linens to the roses created a feminime feel along with graphite mirror runners with clear cylinder vases.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
At Diffa Dining by Design's New York iteration in 2013, Kenneth Cobonpue placed plates and cups in organic shapes on a spare wood table. The minimalist setting allowed eyes to focus on the living centerpiece: a cluster of moss topped with bowls that held live Betta fish.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
The "Imagining the Lowline" fund-raising initiative's co-founders hosted a New York dinner billed as an "anti-gala" in 2012. Van Wyck & Van Wyck used reclaimed wood dining tables decorated with traditional taper candles and organic centerpieces made up of potted mint, lavender, rosemary, geranium leaves, and olive branches.
Photo: Andrew Martin/BizBash
The nonprofit Imagine1Day—which supports education in Ethiopia—hosted its first gala, honoring Tracy Anderson, at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills on November 19. To label each seat, organizers placed stones emblazoned with individual guest names on tabletops.
Photo: Jessica Castro Photography
At the Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Awards in New York in 2011, designer David Stark used colorful rolls of tape supplied by 3M as seating cards. The rolls were stacked on rods atop the tables.
Photo: Richard Patterson/Courtesy of Cooper-Hewitt
At the luxury wedding summit Engage!13, Gifts for the Good Life used glowing birdcage lanterns as escort cards, which guests pulled from Todd Events' live hydrangea wall at the closing gala.
Photo: Chelisse Michaels Photography for Elan Artists
At the BizBash New York IdeaFest in 2012, Zak Events promoted its wares with a wall of potted succulents that doubled as both an attention-getting escort card idea and a takeaway with a solid shelf life.
Photo: Carolyn Curtis/BizBash
At The New York Times's table at the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design benefit in New York in 2004, interior design company Eric Cohler Design made a crossword puzzle using guests' names to serve as seating cards.
Photo: BizBash
Last year, the Holiday Chic Suite popped up on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, where Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event oversaw the design—including seating cards pinned to green apples with sparkly tacks.
Photo: Maypole Studios Photography
For another idea using apples, the National Association for Catering and Events 2012 gala in Washington had a "once upon a time" theme, with details from story books—including calligraphy seating cards that nodded to the poisoned apple in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Photo: Evelyn Alas
Among the creative place card offerings from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based LoLo Event Design are ones meant to look like messages in a bottle with names on ribbons tied to the corks and numbers inside—suitable for an event with a beach or adventure theme.
Photo: Kjeld Mahoney Photography
Decor: Ornaments as Centerpieces
Ornaments added glitz to the decor at a Hollywood Pop Gallery-produced event.
Photo: Courtesy of Hollywood Pop Gallery
One of the main courses featured "hot dogs" made from smoked broccoli stalks, with a side of salt-and-vinegar potato skin fries.
Photo: Courtesy of Scoozi Events
The tacos featured butcher's waste carnitas, which involved a labor-intensive prep process of carving meat from bones that are usually discarded. As the side, Scoozi offered a riff on Mexican corn elote using pineapple cores.
Photo: Courtesy of Scoozi Events
For dessert, guests dined on ice cream sundaes mixed with coffee grounds and topped with pie crust scraps.
Photo: Michele Laufik/BizBash
The mini trash bin invitation for the Gourmet Garbage event set the tone for the evening.
Photo: Courtesy of Scoozi Events
Guests noshed on compost tempura, which consisted of carrot peelings; scallion butts; and beet, fennel, and celery tops.
Photo: Courtesy of Scoozi Events
The dumpster crudité platter included vegetable pulp hummus made from pressed juices and canned chickpea water debris that was served in a squeezable tube, along with a pickle juice vinaigrette.
Photo: Courtesy of Scoozi Events
Rethink Flooring
Symantec reduced the amount of carpet used at Vision Barcelona by 52 percent by covering the trade show floor with reusable, rented carpet tiles; traditional carpeting was only used in the walk ways of the plenary room.
Photo: Courtesy of Symantec
Becel's plant-based pop-up restaurant took place in a greenhouse in downtown Toronto from February 28 to March 2. The side of the greenhouse promoted the pop-up with branding created with greenery.
Photo: Vito Amati/Ryan Emberley Photography
The space was designed to mimic the feel of a greenhouse, complete with hanging garden lights, sod flooring, and plants as table decor.
Photo: Vito Amati/Ryan Emberley Photography
Influencers and media were invited to a session of the event, which featured a wooden centerpiece with the hashtag #GetPLNTed.
Photo: Vito Amati/Ryan Emberley Photography
The event producers wanted to ensure all materials in the greenhouse were green. A branded wall was created with a soy-based epoxy and built without nails.
Photo: Vito Amati/Ryan Emberley Photography
Becel partnered with TV personality and interior designer Jillian Harris, registered dietitian Tori Wesszer, and chef Matt Dean Pettit to develop signature dishes for PLNT’s menu. The menu and dinnerware were created with plant-based materials.
Photo: Vito Amati/Ryan Emberley Photography
At the House of Kim Crawford—a fashion-focused event on August 3 in New York—a golden balloon installation designed by Jessica Fels Event Production and Design and executed by Mixed Greens Events created an eye-catching focal point. The summery event, which also featured bottle art installations, a fortune-cookie tree, and a silhouette-artist station, was produced by Fels and Shadow.
Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images
At the Unicef Hope Gala in Chicago in April, designers put an elegant spin on a childlike theme by creating a canopy of suspended neon Slinkys above the dance floor.
Photo: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for UNICEF
For a Coca-Cola event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a ceiling installation design was inspired by a burst of bubbles exploding from a Coca-Cola bottle. The installation lit up in gold whenever athletes won a gold medal.
Photo: Tiago de Paula Carvalho
Norton Museum of Art’s Annual Gala
Nearly 400 people attended the museum’s annual benefit and after-party in West Palm Beach, Florida, in February, which honored trustee Gilbert Maurer for spearheading the New Norton, the expansion project that’s in its final year of construction. The evening raised more than $1 million to support the museum’s programs and exhibitions.
Photo: Capehart Photography
Art of Elysium's Heaven Gala
The nonprofit hosted its 11th annual celebration in January at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles. The evening, which is traditionally held the night before the Golden Globes, featured event production by Event Eleven and honored John Legend. Hospitality and catering firm Schaffer handled food for the evening, which was inspired by the themes of “Love, Light, and Laughter,” including LED trays to illuminate monochromatic hors d’oeuvres with saturated color.
Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for the Art of Elysium
