Entrance

In keeping with the night's prom theme, six large stanchions of white balloons—branded with Target logos and up lit with spotlights—were erected at the entrance to the party venue with dramatic effect. A custom canopy, covered in the "Kate Young Target" logo, was built at the base of the doorway. A total of 1,000 balloons were used outside.

A massive archway of balloons loomed over guests as they entered the party. I'm not typically a fan of balloons unless the planners go all out. These helium-filled beauties get an A.

Design Foundry added the event hashtag to the main staircase, which served as the stage and backdrop for many photos throughout the night.

Cole Haan took to New York in 2012 to introduce its Chelsea Pump, marketed as a shoe that can be worn late into the night. As part of the brand’s “Don’t Go Home” campaign, it hosted dance parties at a venue where the stairs bore messages announcing reasons to stay out late.

Event designer David Beahm used votive candles in a snaking pattern down the the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s stairs for a private corporate event.

In a more straightforward take on the look, a display of 1,200 votive candles lined the stairs in the Great Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the opening-night party for Bullets Over Broadway in New York in 2014, greeting the 900 guests as they arrived from the St. James Theatre.

At the Corcoran Gallery of Art gala in Washington in 2012, a baroque-style gobo decked out the museum’s grand staircase, which is lined with marble statues and busts.