Decor Ideas

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.

Clear umbrellas and glittering beads hung from the ceiling in the spring area. The sound of falling rain played in the background.

L.A.-based artist Jorge Pardo created a special edition of brightly colored lanterns that hung over the Hammer Museum's Gala in the Garden.

Hundreds of balloons from Balloon Trix hung from the ceiling during the V.I.P. dinner. The space changed colour with each course, starting with blue, morphing to pink for the main course, changing to orange for dessert, and ending in red.

Todd Events made a wedding held inside a large barn in Aspen seem more intimate with two tall signature bars and scattered seating and food station vignettes. Hanging glass globes appeared to lower the ceilings.

Matthew Parker Events crafted lighting fixtures for a speakeasy-themed wedding using hats from a party supply store, decorative ribbon, corded wire, and filament bulbs.

For a wedding at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta, Bold American Events & Catering designed an upside-down centerpiece of yellow tulips and glass globes that hung above the head table.

Giant playing cards hung over the tabletops, bent to give a sense of movement. A chessboard motif served as the backdrop for the stage.

The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago gave its annual summertime ball a "Great Cats-by" theme this year. To channel the interior of a grand East Coast estate described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Frost's David Kelly worked with designers from Event Creative to hang a cluster of ornate chandeliers form the top of the dinner tent.

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.

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.

At the Friends of the High Line spring benefit in 2014, more than 1,000 linen panels hung from the ceiling in the dining room. Designers dip-dyed them by hand in a dozen inflatable children's pools, and they changed color based on the lighting.

For the Whitney Museum of American Art’s final gala in the historic Breuer Building in 2014, dining room decor included hanging paper lanterns with the names of honorees.

Designers of the 2009 Bell Gala in Toronto evoked a fairytale theme with oversize flowers and playing cards hung from the ceiling.

At Diffa Dining by Design in Chicago in 2014, inner tubes suspended from the ceiling were one of many playful touches at the tropical cabana created by Kehoe Designs.

For the 2011 Design Exchange gala in Toronto, hundreds of balloons hung from the ceiling during the V.I.P. dinner. The space changed color with each course, starting with blue, morphing to pink for the main course, changing to orange for dessert, and ending in red.