For the 2016 Headdress Ball, which was held in September at the Orlando World Center Marriott, the Hope and Help Center selected “Love” as the theme. It included a pre-party dubbed the “Love Lounge,” which was filled with red lighting and decor and logo gobos on the walls, while chocolate-heart centerpieces decorated the tables in the ballroom. The event is the largest annual fund-raiser for the nonprofit, which provides support and services for people infected with and affected by H.I.V./AIDS around Central Florida.
At the Canadian Opera Company’s fund-raising gala, Centre Stage, held in November at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, lights and projections transformed the venue’s ceiling into a cloudy blue sky with 14 suspended orbs draped in white silk orchids that hung above the dining guests. The tabletop floral arrangements consisted of white hydrangeas and white orchids in gold vases.
For the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala, which was held in November, Natalie McAdams of Namevents designed a night under the stars—inside a tent in the parking lot below the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. To recreate the outdoor evening look, the production team built a stage that resembled the moon's surface and used fiber-optic panels to resemble stars.
