There will always be elegant Great Gatsby bashes and retro-style fetes with Mad Men flair. Then, there are some event themes that are slightly less—shall we say—classic. From a gala in Los Angeles that celebrated marijuana to a party in Toronto that paid homage to the rear end, here's a look at some of the funkiest event themes we've ever encountered.
At the marijuana-theme gala at the Los Angeles museum in April—April 20, of course—a so-called “4/20 buffet" included munchies like hot dogs, mac 'n' cheese, pizza, and Chinese food.
Live auction items such as hand-painted toilet seats raised awareness about the importance of colon cancer screenings at the Bottoms Up! fund-raiser in Toronto in 2010. The theme extended to the menu: Sponge cakes with custard filling, created by A La Carte Kitchen, were designed to look like sugar bottoms.
Channeling Adam and Eve, eight models in fig leaves and body paint handed out red apples at the entrance to the Liberty Grand for the Toronto International Film Festival's opening night gala in 2011. The party drew a crowd of more than 3,000 attendees and paid tribute to Jon Amiel's film Creation, which tells the life story of British scientist Charles Darwin.
As a way to introduce its four new printers, Hewlett-Packard turned a raw space in New York's Chelsea neighborhood into a makeshift lab and color-coded showcase based around the CMYK color model in 2012. The production team at ExtraExtra used a design scheme based on the printing industry's CMYK color format to underscore the thermal technology of the ink-jet products.
Absolut took over Chicago's Venue One in 2011 to host a launch party for Absolut Wild Tea. Because the flavor combines notes of oolong tea and Nordic white elderflower, the event took on an Asian-meets-Swedish theme. The main room had a minimal look, accented with mirror-top tables, patterned lighting, and bamboo fixtures that held boxes of white flowers.
Lincoln Center benefits and hard hats may sound like an unlikely combination, but at the cultural center’s 2007 “Good Night, Alice” event, the omnipresent theme of construction made it happen. Tabletops adorned with silver hats, trucks, and lunch boxes set the scene inside the dinner tent. In the silver lunch boxes, guests found lobster and chop-chop salad, minted pea soup, crunchy wontons, and Asian sesame dressing.
In 2009, the Art Gallery of Toronto hosted a gala with a "Massive Uprising" theme. Songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister played as guests arrived for the party. Riot police wielding billy clubs greeted attendees as they entered Walker Court, where a group of models dressed as hippies conducted a sit-in.
To mark the premiere of Breakout Kings in 2011, A&E hosted a jailhouse-theme reception at New York's Stage 37. The backdrop for the photo booth was a mugshot-style height chart. Letter board props imprinted with "A&E State Penitentiary" helped complete the picture.
In 2007, the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave gala had decor inspired by Shaker culture. Wooden doors, baskets, miniature apples, curly willow, maple trees, and rocking chairs all contributed to the festive but serene environment. Guests encountered wooden gates and warm projections of leaves and branches upon exiting the elevators.
Macklemore's hit song “Thrift Shop” was topping charts when Roth Capital Partners held its annual conference in March at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel—and it brought in the rapper for entertainment. The firm played up the performance with an overall eye-catching, thrift-store theme with design from Elite Productions. Funky furniture and accent pieces made a lounge space feel like a vintage living room.
The Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation hosted a gala that paid tribute to Dr. J. Bernard Gosevitz in June. The doctor's love for outdoor sport came through at the gala, where guests fished for prizes at the "Dr. G. Tribute Fish Pond."
