themes

March 30, 2016

Pitchfork Music Festival

At the July 2014 music festival in Chicago, V.I.P. guests could play checkers at staggered tables or rest on colorful hammocks.

Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash

Monopoloy Millionaires' Club Launch Event

In October, New Yorkers gathered in Times Square to play a life-size version of Monopoly to celebrate the launch of Monopoly Millionaires' Club, a multi-state lottery game and TV show. The gathering featured appearances from actor Billy Gardell, New York Lottery personality Yolanda Vega, and a costumed "Rich Uncle Moneybags" character.

Photo: Anders Krusberg

Earth

Guests started the evening with cocktails in the "Earth Element" area, which had an entrance that was bathed in green lights.

Photo: PWP Studio

Earth

Centerpieces held natural elements including butterflies, stones, and moss.

Photo: PWP Studio

Earth

Dressed like a fantastical peacock, a strolling performer doubled as a "living table." Events of a Lifetime donated the table.

Photo: PWP Studio

Water

Dinner took place in the "Water Element," which had deep blue lighting designed to make guests feel as though they were submerged into ocean waters. Active Production and Design built a custom stage set for the space.

Photo: PWP Studio

Water

Your Event Solution created and designed the "Water Element." The area featured aerialists from Liquid Sky, along with other live entertainment from the group.

Photo: PWP Studio

Water

Your Event Solutions created a 16-foot-long table with a built-in water feature.

Photo: PWP Studio

Water

Other oceanic decor included tall Lucite columns topped with bubble-print lampshades.

Photo: PWP Studio

Fire

For the after-party, guests transitioned to the "Fire Element." The space was created and designed by Unique Event Elements.

Photo: PWP Studio

An Illinois bar mitzvah on March 12 had a Candy Land theme. Designer Event Chicago planned the event, as well as the design and concept for a sweets table—actually part of an entire sweets room—over which colorful candies dangled from multicolored ribbons of varying lengths. HMR Designs handled decor.

Photo: Jai Girard

The Boston Children's Museum’s 2013 gala included a rather meta dessert table: The entire display took the form of a giant cake, decorated with paper flowers, and set with desserts such as cake pops, mini whoopie pies, mini Twinkies, and chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Photo: Scott Indermaur

At an in-office preview for its clients' wares during the holidays in 2015, Los Angeles-based PR agency BWR offered a metallic dessert bar decorated with the word “Joy” in marquee-style letters.

Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

In 2012, Tori Spelling and J.C. Penney celebrated the launch of the star’s line for kids, Little Maven, in Los Angeles. The glamping-style event included a sweets table where the dessert offerings sat upon rustic wood slabs.

Photo: Michael Simon/StarTraks

Guests of the first Camp Groupon weekend stayed at the Swissôtel Chicago from July 6-8. Kehoe Designs spruced the venue up with thematic decor including lifesavers, boat paddles, and bundled logs.

Photo: Sheri Whitko Photography

GBK Golden Globes Gift Suite

GBK hosted a lounge including gifts and services on Friday and Saturday at the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Photo: Courtesy of GBK

An over-size picnic table continued the warm-weather motif and provided a creative setting for the brand to showcase the brightly colored tableware in the Sandra by Sandra Lee collection.

Photo: BizBash

Tommy Hilfiger

At the Park Avenue Armory, Tommy Hilfiger fashioned an elaborate set that resembled a gated garden. The showing of his men’s collection on Friday (pictured) had café tables and chairs, and on Sunday evening, the seating switched out for benches to accommodate more attendees at the presentation of the designer’s women’s collection.

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Cash Money Records Pre-Grammy Party

Digital screens, including a retractable LED chandelier that draped the stage, displayed images such as the Eiffel Tower emblazoned with YMCMB (Young Money Cash Money Billionaires) logos. And 14-foot white cherry blossom trees stood sentry.

Photo: Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup

Bunting hung over 170 tables for 700 guests in the V.I.P. picnic space within the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Los Angeles in 2013.

Photo: Claire Barrett Photography

At the Adam Lippes for Target preview in New York last year, David Stark Designs set up a rooftop garden for a picnic-style event using Adam Lippes blankets, pillows, and travel bags.

Photo: Courtesy of LaForce & Stevens

Adrienne Bosh, who is married to Miami Heat player Chris Bosh, hosted a motivational event known as “Glamchella” last summer in Miami. At the affair, bohemian-inspired decor included textured table linens, Buddha sculptures, lanterns, and jewel-toned cushions for seating.

Photo: April Belle Photos

Last year in Southern California, Anheuser-Busch-owned beverage brand Shock Top launched its summer seasonal Lemon Shandy beverage at a Ventura County lemon grove. Appropriately, simple citrus fruits in crates served as tabletop decor.

Photo: Casey Rodgers

Kehoe Designs transformed the Fairmont Hotel's ballroom into a tropical setting with lagoon-colored lighting, leafy centerpieces, and giant cutouts of animal silhouettes for the Goodman Gala, which was held in Chicago in May 2013 and celebrated the theater's production of The Jungle Book.

Photo: Ryan Sjostrom

When Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong premiered in December 2005, Universal Pictures threw an enormous party for 3,000 guests in New York. The event included an elaborate—and complicated—waterfall that took a crew of workers from Garden State Koi and Aquatic Center three days to assemble. The installation was part of the jungle-theme section of the premiere party and included sound effects and a light fog.

Photo: Jeff Thomas/ImageCapture for BizBash

For the HBO Emmy after-party in August 2010, event designer Billy Butchkavitz concocted a “summer safari” theme that featured animal-print tablecloths in preppy pink and banana and palm trees as high as 30 feet.

Photo: Gabor Ekecs

A fire pit next to the arrivals area kept HBO's guests warm at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

Photo: Gabor Ekecs

In late April 2015, the Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago hosted its annual fund-raising gala. The event featured animal-theme decor from the Flower Firm, including a bar with leopard spots and eyes.

Photo: Kelly Tone

Palm leaves, lilies, and zebra print decorated the ballroom of the Four Seasons Chicago for the Service Club of Chicago's gala in November 2011.

Photo: Ryan Sjostrom

Tall palms topped the zebra-print bar during the cocktail reception at Michael "Pinball" Clemons Foundation's safari-theme gala in March 2010, which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, Toronto.

Photo: BizBash

Solutions With Impact topped the tables with lamps wrapped in animal prints at the 2010 gala, which supported Free the Children.

Photo: BizBash

Whimsical animal napkin rings provided by Jedando Modern Handicrafts, a Kenyan organization, marked each place setting at the Michael “Pinball” Clemons Foundation's gala.

Photo: BizBash

To match the futuristic theme, Got Light brought in their "Trondeliers," or illuminated geometric fixtures. When event planner Caryl Lyons saw the fixtures, "I knew we had to hang them from the ceiling," she said.

Photo: L. Bishop Photography

There were also performers twirling LED hula hoops.

Photo: L. Bishop Photography

Magnolia Bluebird Design & Events created walls of cotton candy served on LED glow sticks for a Pop Art-theme sweet sixteen party, held at the Musikfest Café at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in January 2015. “It smelled like a Katy Perry concert when you walked in the door,” said Danielle Couick, principal of the Columbia, Maryland-based event planning company.

Photo: Rodney Bailey

For a trippy twist on team building, the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the JW Marriott Grand Rapids in Michigan offer glow-in-the-dark yoga. The one-hour class keeps groups focused thanks to the lack of visibility. By practicing in the dark, attendees are forced to tap into their senses while stretching. Groups start the session by drawing on themselves and each other with glow-in-the-dark body paint, then the class wraps with a dance party and glow-in-the-dark healthy cocktails. Snacks including fresh juices and fruits are provided.

Photo: Courtesy of JW Marriott

The hall of faces photo op used custom printed wallpaper that covered three walls of the ballroom.

Photo: Gabor Ekecs

HBO's Hollywood premiere immersed guests in the Game of Thrones world, with decor, activities, and photo ops all inspired by the show.

Photo: Gabor Ekecs

Luminato Festival's Opening Party and Big Bang Bash

The 10th annual Luminato Festival kicked off its 17-day residency at Toronto's Hearn Generating Station on June 9 with back-to-back fund-raisers. Inspired by a "Today is the Future" theme, the event featured a futuristic bar that offered guests the chance to inhale flavored oxygen.

Photo: George Pimentel Photography

Chandon's American Summer Fête

Chandon celebrated the launch of its limited-edition American Summer bottles with a party on June 25 at the High Line in New York. The event offered activities for guests including a game of ring toss that incorporated the bottles.

Photo: Courtesy of Chandon

Chandon's American Summer Fête

One of the party's notable design elements was a step-and-repeat in the form of a lush green installation that showcased the limited-edition bottles.

Photo: Courtesy of Chandon

Red: Passion, Love, Power, Excitement, Strength, Anger, Intensity

Stoelt Productions upped the excitement for the 2012 Clio awards after-party at New York’s American Museum of Natural History by flooding the event with red lighting.

Photo: Christophe Wu