![Playing off the mobile of paper butterflies hanging above David Stark's literary-themed Benjamin Moore table, guests' names were laser cut onto book pages cut into the shape of butterflies.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_a_164png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Playing off the mobile of paper butterflies hanging above David Stark's literary-themed Benjamin Moore table, guests' names were laser cut onto book pages cut into the shape of butterflies.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![Each guest at the DESIGNLUSH table received a set of gilded Kona wood coasters inside a tinted acrylic box, which was topped by a 14-karat gold Slinky place card holder.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_a_106png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Each guest at the DESIGNLUSH table received a set of gilded Kona wood coasters inside a tinted acrylic box, which was topped by a 14-karat gold Slinky place card holder.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![F.I.T. students (working with design mentors Joshua Ciceronet and Jared Siegal) created a conceptual table around the myth of Pandora's Box. After Pandora released the evils of the world, the only spirit remaining in her jar was Hope, so glowing 'Hope' jars sat at each place setting, with a paper tags that read 'Please share me.'](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_d_027png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
F.I.T. students (working with design mentors Joshua Ciceronet and Jared Siegal) created a conceptual table around the myth of Pandora's Box. After Pandora released the evils of the world, the only spirit remaining in her jar was Hope, so glowing "Hope" jars sat at each place setting, with a paper tags that read "Please share me."
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![Design Within Reach's area for The New York Times included tiny versions of iconic chair designs next to each plate.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_b_186png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Design Within Reach's area for The New York Times included tiny versions of iconic chair designs next to each plate.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![For the Ethan Allen table, striped napkins were stuffed into bowls and topped with fabric daisies.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_a_201png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
For the Ethan Allen table, striped napkins were stuffed into bowls and topped with fabric daisies.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![The table settings at the Herman Miller space had a retro 1950s look. Place cards were attached to wooden tops with twine.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_a_168png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
The table settings at the Herman Miller space had a retro 1950s look. Place cards were attached to wooden tops with twine.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![Alexa Stevenson styled an ambitious table for the New York Design Center titled 'Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?' Nine of N.Y.D.C.’s Access to Design designers imagined cheeky place settings for their dream (deceased) dinner party guests, including Coco Chanel, Elizabeth Taylor, and Steve Jobs. Imagined to be set in a glamorous, haunted mansion, the macabre centerpiece included moss, succulents, and a skull inside a glass cloche.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_d_154png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Alexa Stevenson styled an ambitious table for the New York Design Center titled "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?" Nine of N.Y.D.C.’s Access to Design designers imagined cheeky place settings for their dream (deceased) dinner party guests, including Coco Chanel, Elizabeth Taylor, and Steve Jobs. Imagined to be set in a glamorous, haunted mansion, the macabre centerpiece included moss, succulents, and a skull inside a glass cloche.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
![Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_a_113png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
DESIGNLUSH's setting was an homage to 1970s fashion designer Paco Rabanne. Housed inside a golden pool cabana, the focal point of the look was a two-tiered, rectangular gold paillette chandelier commissioned from Le Lebow, the Paris firm that made the paillettes for Rabanne's mini dresses. The table displayed wine bottles coated in real gold using a process adapted from industrial use.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
![Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/03/bizbashdif_3232012_b_013png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Jes Gordon created a fun, fluorescent look using a variety of recycled materials, including milk-crate shelving, vintage toys, neon ribbons, and painted books. Gordon invited attendees to write wishes for those affected by AIDS on strips of neon paper, which she attached to a towering centerpiece crafted from wire hangers with paper clips.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
![Sa 024 Bizbash 5png](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2012/02/sa_024_bizbash_5png.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Photo: Courtesy of Ceci New York
![The Mint Agency used sand, shells, and bowls holding live fish as centerpieces at the September premiere dinner for Spring Breakers during the Toronto International Film Festival.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2013/04/mint_tiff2012_springbreaker_jennifer_meriano_21.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
The Mint Agency used sand, shells, and bowls holding live fish as centerpieces at the September premiere dinner for Spring Breakers during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Photo: Jennifer Meriano
![Lucite tables were filled with natural objects like sea shells.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2013/06/125_ngs_gala_img_credit_robert_isacson_0231.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Lucite tables were filled with natural objects like sea shells.
Photo: Robert Isacson
![Zaldivar used rough textures like burlap in contrast to more polished elements of the decor, to echo Gonzalez's work.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2011/11/e20179img_8010_v2_.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
Zaldivar used rough textures like burlap in contrast to more polished elements of the decor, to echo Gonzalez's work.
Photo: Sonja Garnitschnig