Event themes

Two 14-foot-tall puppets greeted guests at the entrance to the A La Carte Event Pavilion.

Guests could pick up various glow-in-the-dark items such as necklaces, bracelets, and rings as they arrived at the party.

An acrobat performed in a hoop suspended from the ceiling.

Entertainers from Event Show Productions performed on an 8- by 8-foot riser erected in the center of the main bar.

Two drummers suspended from the ceiling played along with music provided by the DJ.

Dancers adorned with neon paint performed on risers throughout the room.

On the terrace, staff from Thompson Cigar created hand-rolled cigars for guests.

In the foyer, entertainers inside four large, brightly colored tubes directed guests toward the ballroom.

A La Carte Event Pavilion provided desserts for the gala, including cakes decorated with the Michigan State and University of Georgia logos.

In the all-black cocktail reception space, Piers Baker from Third from the Sun spun on the DJ Kreemy Booth, designed by Karim Rashid.

In the cocktail reception space, ovoid ice sculpture centrepieces sat on every cocktail table. The fluid, organic shapes were inspired by the work of all three designers.

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.

Clear ghost chairs and white tablecloths created clean lines in the V.I.P. dining room. Seventy-five cymbidium orchids made up the centrepiece at each table, mimicking the circular balloons overhead.

Glass votives with electric candles hung from the ceiling in the V.I.P. dining room.

Eatertainment designed the V.I.P. menu and played with the colours and shapes from the event invitation. Each plate had the name of the dish and the spirograph design from the invitation across the top. For the first course, they served cider braised beet with poached pear, Benedictine blue and spicy candied pecan, and an herb salad with raspberry vinaigrette.

For the after-party, Iceculture created an eight-foot ice wall at the entrance of the trading floor. Iconic shapes from Karim Rashid were cut into the ice blocks and packed with snow. The negative space spelled out "DX."

Silver and copper spheres hung from a square truss structure over the trading floor. An eight-foot lampshade from Eurolites illuminated the bar.

Large cubes of ice with a hollow sphere sat on the corners of the square bar on the trading floor.

Large ice replicas of Karim Rashid's Garbino garbage can were placed on the bar on the trading floor. Large spherical ice cubes filled the bins. A single spherical ice cube was served in each drink.

Iceculture created a candleholder and flower piece, which is a larger version of designer Hani Rashid's Alessi pencil holder.

Box Top Productions designed the three-dimensional mappings projected on the walls of the trading floor.

Crystal Head Vodka sponsored the event and served specialty cocktails from a bar on the trading floor. Ice skulls decorated the bar.

Dancers from DLM Studio wearing bodysuits circulated the trading floor, interacting with guests, posing for photos, and dancing.

Contortionists and acrobats from Zero Gravity Circus performed on stage on the trading floor. Aerialists also performed over the Crystal Head martini bar.

Sponsor Cambria had models showing off the brand's tile designs with a fashion show during the after-party.

Karim Rashid's Garbino garbage can, supplied by Umbra, acted as gift bags for guests.

The silent auction was located on the first floor of the Design Exchange.

As guests entered the Aragon Ballroom, models dressed as "hired spies" passed flutes of champagne. The so-called spies also gave guests "missions," or fun, thematic tasks to complete throughout the evening.

Event Creative decked the venue with 007-inspired decor. One of the evening's interactive activities, or "missions," was to snap a photo in front of a step-and-repeat featuring a spy plane.

Another one of the missions: posing for a photo in front of a golden "007" logo that appeared at the top of a stairwell.

Guests could also pose for photos in front of a gun-barrel backdrop, with models dressed as Bond girls.

Hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa performed at around 10 p.m.

A long custom bar from Event Creative was stationed on the first floor.

The illuminated bar had the image of a safe embossed with Groupon's "G" logo.

After completing all the missions, guests were rewarded with the evening's specialty cocktail: "Shaken Not Stirred" martinis in branded keepsake glasses.