Decor

To promote the season premiere of Showtime's Shameless, Okamoto Studio carved and assembled more than 18,000 pounds of ice in the shape of the show's hashtag, which was on display in the Flatiron district's pedestrian plaza in New York in January.

At the "Travel Alberta: Snowed In at Nokia Plaza" activation, held in Los Angeles in November 2013, guests chipped away at an icy replica of a mountain, which was created by Robert Van Diggele, to retrieve the prize vouchers frozen inside. The vouchers were exchanged for signed pucks, Travel Alberta-branded items, and a signed L.A. Kings jersey.

Bank of China opened the financial institution's Chicago branch with an ice-cutting ceremony in March 2013. Nadeau's Ice Sculptures encased red letters that spelled out "Chicago" in ice; the bank executives then chiseled away at the blocks to reveal the new location.

Toronto's Iceculture has created beaded curtains—made entirely of ice—for events, where it can divide a room or serve as an eye-catching backdrop.

Guests (with the help of Okamoto Studio's crew) used hand tools and drills to make their mark on a glowing, seven-foot-tall ice wall, which can be constructed at events, celebrations, and weddings.

A 14- by 12-foot ice sculpture of Russia's signature dome architecture served as the centerpiece of the dessert presentation at the Initiative for Russian Culture's film series launch event at the Library of Congress in Washington in September 2011.

In addition to carving detailed displays, Washington, D.C.'s USAIce also makes shot glasses from ice for events. The company also creates ice bowls and trays.

At the launch of the Kate Young for Target collection, held at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral school in SoHo in April 2013, Okamoto Studio etched the designer's name in playful block letters, which held lopsided bottles.

Festive ice installations, like a frosty Claus, decorated Minus5 Ice Bar in New York (which also has locations in Las Vegas and Orlando) this past holiday season. Guests don parkas and gloves to sip vodka cocktails in the 23 degree Fahrenheit space, which features walls, tables, benches, and a bar made completely of ice.

An enormous slab of ice was carved into an intricate latticework bar for the Naked Heart Foundation's "White Fairy Tale Love Ball," which was held at Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti's 17th-century Château de Wideville estate outside Paris in July 2011.

Okamoto Studio froze 800 pairs of flip-flops inside a nine-foot ice cube in Union Square for an Old Navy product launch in June 2012. As the ice melted, passersby grabbed a free pair.

To launch Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Nintendo hosted an event in Santa Monica in February 2014, complete with an icy version of the iconic video game character.

Toronto marketing company Capital C hosted a holiday party in December 2011 with a "Naughty N'Ice" theme, featuring cocktails poured over dry ice, soup topped with nitrogen-frozen blueberries, and a cool chaise from Iceculture.

For the luxury bridal event Brides, Bubbles, and Bliss, held at Bridgeport Art Center's Skyline Loft in May 2013, Johnson Studios Ice Sculptures Chicago kept bottles of Veuve Clicquot on ice in a creative way.

At Martha Stewart Weddings' 20th anniversary party, held at the Pierre hotel in New York in October 2014, Okamoto Studio carved half-shell ice sculptures, complete with frozen pearls, for the raw oyster serving station.

At the Absolut Vodka pop-up party, held in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square in November 2011, a circular branded ice bar, created by Iceculture, featured a cocktail menu engraved in the ice blocks.

The decor at this year's Whitney Museum of American Art gala in New York emphasized materials familiar to artists, such as paintbrushes and sketch pads. Playful centerpieces included table numbers imprinted on silver paint cans.

In Los Angeles last May, nearly 300 artists and art patrons celebrated the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s 25th anniversary at the museum's second annual Precognito gala dinner. Table numbers were painted directly onto the white paper tablecloths.

Here's an on-theme idea for a rustic farm-to-table dinner: At last year's Lowline "Anti-Gala," moss-filled Mason jars served as table numbers.

At the seventh annual Call of the Game dinner in March, held at South Florida's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, painted guitars served as centerpieces. Oversize guitar picks displaying numbers let guests know at which table to sit.

The tables at a graffiti-theme bar mitzvah designed by David Stark Design and Production, held at Center548 in New York, displayed numbers on spray-paint cans.

For a wedding produced by AaB Creates at the Altman Building in 2012, the table numbers popped out of the pages of open books. The numbers were carved out of the books' pages using an X-Acto knife.

Large graphic table numbers provided the bulk of the decor during the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's National Design Awards gala in 2011.

Designer David Stark used fluorescent tape provided by 3M to create much of the decor for the National Design Awards gala in 2011. At some of the tables, rolls of the colorful tape added a decorative element to platforms displaying large-scale table numbers.

Instead of going in numerical order at the October 2011 dinner for Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art's anniversary, each table number represented an important year in the museum's 75-year history.

Last year, the National Association for Catering and Events hosted its annual fund-raising gala at the Liaison in Washington, where design elements drew inspiration from classic fairy tales. To add an enchanted-forest feel to the dining table centerpieces, table numbers were spray painted on wood slabs.

Plexiglas table number displays added a reflective element to the tables at a local college prep school's 75th anniversary gala, held in 2010 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida.

To fit in with the "Passport to the World" theme at the Children's Place Association's Once Upon a Time gala in Chicago in 2009, table numbers were printed on faux passports.

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.

At a wedding by Brilliant Event Planning, guests were challenged to match the clues on their escort cards to a table chart, which listed different places that were significant to the couple’s relationship.

Escort cards on custom drink stirrers were placed in glasses of white peach sangria at a summer wedding produced by Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based catering and events company the JDK Group.

Guests grabbed calligraphed escort cards that were attached to vintage safety-deposit-box-inspired keys at a bank-theme wedding, which was held at Skylight One Hanson in the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank clock tower in Brooklyn and produced by Brilliant Event Planning.

Helium-filled Zygote balls, which were printed with sponsors’ names, changed color when touched at a retail conference.

Toast custom built the 19th Hole Bar for the Humana Challenge. It included real marble countertops, LED backlighting, and mirrored shelves.

Bravo Events and Design Foundry incorporated the silent auction items into the decor. Items were displayed on two walls as well as on tables and stands.

Without the need for bidding sheets, Design Foundry could display the local dining gift certificates and plaques on a mixture of shelves and crates attached to one of the gallery walls. This provided a better vantage point for multiple guests to view the items at once, like in a museum, compared to a table arrangement where only one guest can view an item at a time.

The wall arrangement for the auction items opened up 100 square feet of event space that Design Foundry filled with high-boy and café table seating.

Lounge areas provided a secluded respite for V.I.P. guests and sponsors compared to general admission. Design Foundry mixed tufted chairs with wooden tables, metal stools, and industrial-style accent tables to create the farm-to-table meets urban chic ambience requested by the Board of Visitors.

Chalkboard signs indicated the V.I.P. lounges listing the sponsor levels—each named for various types and bottle sizes of wines—for that lounge.

When using tables in a silent auction layout, planners often face the challenge of how to use them after the items are cleared away. Windows Catering turned the tables to dessert buffets throughout the room within 15 minutes of the auction closing.

A three-dimensional media wall with chrome hubcaps installed around a logo created a graphic photo op at the first night's Fast & Furious theme party.

Food vendor the Gastro Garage created artisanal sweet and savory doughnuts, finished on-site with power tools and flame torches by staff costumed to resemble a pit crew. Tool boxes, welding helmets, and oil tin cans decorated the food station.

Blue and purple accents and uplighting decorated the party space, and cars—both toy and life-size—added to the look.

Wiz Khalifa closed the night, performing hits like “Black and Yellow” and “See You Again” from the Fast & Furious movie franchise.

For the circus-theme night, roving entertainers included a fire-eating and boa constrictor contortionist, plus a stilt walker. Dancers were made up with exaggerated costuming and hair styling to give them a mad look, and a circus ringleader and a costumed panda greeted guests as they entered the venue.

Golden, LED-decorated jester faces provided accent decor for bar areas and dancer platforms, which were enclosed in caging.

Vintage circus-character banners, featuring characters such as the "Master Juggler," decorated the space.

Vintage props and decor included giant polka-dot balls and trunks, flanking strategic areas such as the media wall to create points of interest.

In the house-party themed space, models and dancers were dressed in attire inspired by the Greek system and university life.

Using red and blue Solo cups, Elite Productions designed a custom art installation and media wall, bearing an "R" for Roth.

A variety of beer-related activities included beer pong and a beer-bong area.

Urban metal and cocktail tables without linen conveyed a bare aesthetic. Beer bottles, cases, and cardboard six-pack holders served as materials for floral centerpieces and installations to accentuate the house-party theme.

On the last night, food vendor Company 77 made and served pizzas to order in their unique, signature way: in and on a retooled fire truck.

Attendees wore custom LED wristbands, which lit up in changing colors synchronized to the Chainsmokers' set list.