Check Out This Fresh Take on an Under-the-Sea Event Theme

Atlanta Pride's official kickoff party evoked an “upscale, underwater boutique hotel” with iridescent color tones, video mapping, and some pretty unique ceiling decor.

Claire Hoffman

November 9, 2023

Video mapping was used to help the underwater fantasy elements come to life. “Just like the ocean floor is always changing, our lighting and video mapping emulated that in the design,” explained Taylor.Photo: Vosamo Photography
ATLANTA—For this year's Atlanta Pride—one of the oldest and largest Pride festivals in the United States, which ran from Oct. 14-15—organizers wanted to make a splash with the official kickoff event. Designed by YES Event Designs, the Oct. 13 gathering at the Georgia Aquarium immersed guests in a vibrant, fantasy-like environment that offered a futuristic take on an under-the-sea theme.

The team was inspired by the venue, of course, but also by a previous Atlanta Pride kickoff event YES Event Designs had worked on in 2011. “That party featured a jellyfish-inspired theme—but for this event, the direction took us to the future,” explained Cathy Taylor, president of the Georgia-based event design company. “The party was meant to feel like an upscale, underwater boutique hotel.”

Taylor acknowledges that underwater themes can easily become “kitschy and expected,” so she worked to draw inspiration from more unexpected places, like scenes from the Avatar movie and the ocean's bioluminescence. “Our goal was to create an iconic party for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Taylor, adding that the event also coincided with National Coming Out Day. “People came from all over the world to enjoy this event and the rest of the weekend’s festivities."

Keep scrolling for a deep dive into the "submerged iridescent fantasy," as Taylor described it.

VENDORS:
Catering: Wolfgang Puck Catering
Event Design and Creative: YES Event Designs
Lighting and AV: Active Production and Design
Photography: Vosamo Photography
Venue: Georgia Aquarium

“Our vision for the party was to create an iconic event for the kickoff to Atlanta Pride weekend,” explained Taylor. “Inspiration for the look came from various sources, like scenes in the Avatar movie and the bioluminescence of the ocean itself. Our client described that they wanted us to create an underwater boutique hotel in the future.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography

Video mapping was used to help the underwater fantasy elements come to life. “Just like the ocean floor is always changing, our lighting and video mapping emulated that in the design,” explained Taylor.

Photo: Vosamo Photography

The main focal points of the event were two 24-by-24 lounges. “The crystal curtains were meant to look like ocean water, and then once [they] entered inside the structure, guests were ‘submerged’ in the underwater fantasy with ethereal elements,” she explained.

Photo: Vosamo Photography

The lounges featured iridescent bubble orbs, eye-catching crystals that caught light like a silver jack fish, and custom wave drapes to mimic the sea and illuminate an ever-changing jellyfish. “The environment made guests feel transported to an alternate underwater dimension,” said Taylor.

Photo: Vosamo Photography

To create the lounges, the team rigged 24-by-24-foot trusses to the ceiling, then added over 60 20-foot crystal curtains. Inside the structure, airline cable was used to hang over 32 jellyfish of various sizes, along with iridescent balls in three sizes to create a bubble effect. “Various strips of crystal curtains were weaved into the design,” added Taylor. “The finishing touch was the custom curved wave hardware with white chiffon fabric to emulate crashing waves.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography

The design for the DJ booth was inspired by bioluminescence, along with shards of ice caps that can be found at the depths of the ocean.

Photo: Vosamo Photography

“The DJ booth façade was a challenge—we had to get every angle just right, [thinking] how would it look from the sides and back, and how would it look with the LED screen behind it,” said Taylor. “We carefully crafted each shard in our warehouse with foam core to test how many we would need for the height and dimension. We realized when building this that the DJ booth needed a custom table size, which we built and used to mount the shards to the front of the structure.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography

To keep the space feeling fresh and relevant, Taylor and her team looked to current industry trends. “Iridescent color tones are an haute trend this year, so we knew we wanted to integrate them into this bioluminescence design.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography

For the lighting design, “It had to be the right tone to bring the iridescent tranquility to life,” she said. “We played with casts of lights and tones to get it just perfect. Movers, Lekos, and uplights worked harmoniously to bring the overall sea abyss to life.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography

The team kept the tables and seating limited to leave plenty of room for mingling—instead leaning into ceiling decor to make an impact. “How do you create something that when guests walk into the room, they get the vibe and theme of the party?” said Taylor of the decision to design focal elements above guests’ heads. “Year after year, we do focal bars, but this year, we shifted our thought process to something more engaging.”

Photo: Vosamo Photography