Draping is one of the hardest-working details of event production: It can serve as dramatic decor, guide guests in the right direction, hide elements in a space that are irrelevant or yet to be revealed, or advance a theme—and sometimes it serves multiple functions all at once. See how these corporate events and benefits around North America incorporated drapery in inventive and attractive ways.
At the same party in 2013, Event Eleven designed a sumptuous Art Deco-inspired setting with draped fabric panels from Crdzines.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
Goldie Hawn hosted the Hawn Foundation’s “Goldie’s Love In for Kids” in Los Angeles earlier this month. There, purple draping accented with chandeliers lent a rich look and feel within the party space.
Photo: Courtesy of the Hawn Foundation
The New York City Opera's spring gala in 2008 celebrated the opening night of King Arthur. At the event, long strips of multicolored drapery served as a tent over the promenade of the New York State Theater.
Photo: Joe Fornabaio for BizBash
Last year, Toronto’s sold-out “Motionball” gala, in support of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation, had a “Glitz and Graffiti” theme. Accordingly, drapes and bright lights added a feeling of warmth and vibrancy in the reception space.
Photo: Courtesy of Motionball
At a 2015 party surrounding Roth Capital Partners’ financial conference in Orange County, California, flowing black drape provided a a retro '80s glam vibe to support a performance from the band Poison.
Photo: Cynthia Halverson
Luxurious white draping strung with Edison-style bulbs formed the entrance to the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party in Los Angeles in February.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
The previous year, the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party got a purple-draped entrance punctuated by hanging disco balls.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
Black and white stripes lent a crisp, clean look at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party in Los Angeles back in 2009.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
For a 2012 holiday party for CyberCoders in Newport Beach, California, 10 crystal chandeliers decorated a heavily draped ceiling in a space done in black, gold, and purple.
Photo: Callie Biggerstaff
Following the SAG Awards in Los Angeles in 2012, People magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation co-hosted the official awards gala, where Event Eleven created a diamond-shaped, draped ceiling treatment to serve as the event’s dramatic centerpiece.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
Toronto’s Regent Park School of Music held the first Chrismukkah benefit in support of Toronto’s Regent Park School of Music in 2009. At the gala, designed to combine elements of Christmas and Hanukkah, organizers draped panels of sheer fabric from the ceiling in the concert hall. The drapes, done in white, combined elements from the wintry holidays.
Photo: Henry Lin
Samsung Mobile launched its Galaxy Note II in Los Angeles in 2012 at the Beverly Hills home of interior designer Kelly Wearstler. There, Event Eleven tricked out a 80- by 40-foot tent on the home’s tennis court, with details like draping with a striped effect.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
To fete the WorldPride Festival in Toronto in 2014, law firm McCarthy Tétrault hosted its own “Big Gay Party." The purpose of the event was to celebrate Pride, and also to acknowledge the firm being named to a list of Canada’s top employers for diversity. At the event’s check-in area, draping resembled the movement's famous rainbow flag.
Photo: Camilla Pucholt Photography
