Resource Furniture's table by interior designer Marie Aiello was an immersive, under-the-sea experience. A 7-and-a-half-foot-tall NanoLumens LED screen wrapped around the space, displaying high-resolution videos of people swimming in the ocean. A mix of air plants, pincushion proteas, and cockscomb ran down the center of the table, and a Torde Boontje LED Blossom chandelier hung from above.
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.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
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
Goil Amornvivat, Thomas Morbitzer, and Tietz-Baccon created intricate C.N.C.-cut walls depicting spaceships, unicorns, trains, pirate ships, dragons, and more. Cloud-shaped benches surrounded a multidimensional clear-top table displaying a tiny town of mirrored houses holding LED candles.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Artist Julene Harrison (madebyjulene.com) creates custom, hand-cut table numbers, from about $50 each, with discounts for orders of 10 or more. Her designs can be modern or intricate, and are easily slipped into acrylic photo frames for display.
Photo: Courtesy of Julene Harrison
At a casual outdoor wedding in California planned by Kate Miller Events, gingham flags displaying table numbers were tucked into vintage soda bottles filled with flowers.
Photo: True Love Photo
All-white lounge areas held lampshades printed with snowflakes; the bases of the lamps appeared to be filled with glistening snow.
Photo: Nancy Behall
Gilded topiary arrangements added height to the table designs.
Photo: Eli Turner Studios
Bunches of white roses accented the buffet tables, which offered British-style treats such as shortbread cookies.
Photo: Kat Fitzgerald
La Premier's Kevin Lee and team used about 12,000 white calla lilies for the floral look.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
Tall white trees surrounded by, and decorated with, candy canes, candy apples, and gingerbread men formed the festive decor at Capital C's 2009 holiday party in Toronto.
Photo: Nikki Leigh McKean for BizBash
14. White Floral "Snowball" Centerpieces
“Tables also display white monochromatic floral ‘snowball’ centerpieces on glass pedestals. Small tags attached to the arrangements encourage guests to hit the savory-and-sweet vodka snowball station, with syrup flavors like chocolate-rosemary and limoncello-basil.” Floral design by Feats Inc.
Photo: Remsburg Photography
In the lounge area, café tables with sequined linens were topped with globes and rings of baby's breath. At the tables, guests sat to have snacks prepared by chef Domenic Chiaromonte of C2 Catering Couture. The menu included pulled-pork "cigars," "moneybag" ravioli, and "moonshine chowder."
Photo: Donovan Bond
Kenneth Cobonpue's table was enclosed inside a sort of wicker birdcage. At the center of the organic wooden table was a mound of moss topped with bowls that held live Betta fish; directly above was a chandelier composed of glass jars holding faux fireflies.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Orange was popular color choice this year. Marc Blackwell painted an entire wall in the hue, covering it with an eclectic collection of china. Nearby, a giant tree-stump table displayed a oversize drum shade lamp as a centerpiece, surrounded by orange and white tulips. A charming touch: porcelain birds at each place setting made chirping noises.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Interior design firm EDG's offering was a collapsible, portable dining unit, designed to be used as a pop-up restaurant or alongside food trucks. The chandeliers were made from plastic straws, and the table centerpieces included frosted Mason jars holding votive candles.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
For the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s gala, held in Miami in December, Shiraz Events designed miniature terrariums in fishbowls, that were placed on highboy tables during cocktail hour.
Photo: Courtesy of Shiraz
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
For the Clean the World gala, held at the Peabody Orlando in 2011, Special Event Floral filled fishbowls with blue marbles, then added battery-operated lights. The Peabody Orlando's duck soap appeared to float on top of each centerpiece.
Photo: Mitra Sorrells/BizBash
Fluffy white flowers spilled out of striped containers that were shaped like classic popcorn boxes.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Small Lincoln Log-style wood boxes filled with pink, coral, and orange tulips, roses, and calla lilies topped each of the tables.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash
City of Hope Gala
For the City of Hope "Spirit of Life" gala in Los Angeles, Namevents turned a parking lot adjacent to Geffen Contemporary at MOCA into a dinner space meant to evoke a high-end nightclub. Guests sat in lounge areas with plush couches and blankets, and dinner was served on glass tables with programmable LED bases. On some tables, tall glass vases designed by Chris Matsumoto were filled with water and stones in colors that echoed the hues on the invitation.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
A Table in a Bubble
At Girari Sustainable Event Furnishings’ tabletop design competition at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, event producer Alexandra Rembac-Goldberg of Sterling Engagements designed a showcase table with a bubble theme. The entire look was placed inside a clear bubble structure from Casa Bubble.
Photo: Christopher Todd Studio
Photo: Shana Cassidy Photography
Resembling stained glass, the centerpieces comprised light boxes filled with rows of slide sheets, each containing different squares of color.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
Centerpieces of white carnations designed by Feats Inc. evoked fluffy snowballs.
Photo: Edwin Remsberg
Grand Tasting Presented by ShopRite
Tables in the Illy Push Button House displayed centerpieces of fresh red roses arranged among coffee beans.
Photo: Matteo Prandoni/BFAnyc.com
Grand Tasting Presented by ShopRite
At the Cooking Channel's booth, staffers served freshly made savory pizza-, miso-caramel-, and black-and-white-cookie-flavored popcorn. Guests could also pose in a nearby photo booth, using props displayed in vases filled with popcorn kernels.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Playful centerpieces featured silver paint cans that held breadsticks and also Sharpie markers that guests could use to draw on the canvas tablecloths.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Shiraz Events provided decor for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center gala in Miami in December. Tabletops were covered in silvery linens, and centerpieces of orchids and silver-coated ivy sat atop glowing white platforms.
Photo: Courtesy of Shiraz
Jewelry brand Lia Sophia previewed its fall/winter 2011 collections at the Sunset Marquis in 2011. Smart customization did double duty as pretty decor: Floral spheres of monochromatic carnations from ESE Lifestyle (which also produced the event) topped PVC piping concealed by tall stacks of bracelets from the Industrielle II collection. Crushed glass at the bottom of white boxes that served as the pedestals' bases finished the look.
Photo: Joe Scarnici/WireImage.com
The decor at this year's Whitney Museum of American Art gala in New York emphasized materials familiar to artists, such as paintbrushes and sketch pads. Playful centerpieces included table numbers imprinted on silver paint cans.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
At the seventh annual Call of the Game dinner in March, held at South Florida's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, painted guitars served as centerpieces. Oversize guitar picks displaying numbers let guests know at which table to sit.
Photo: Courtesy of Reid & Florentino
Last year, the National Association for Catering and Events hosted its annual fund-raising gala at the Liaison in Washington, where design elements drew inspiration from classic fairy tales. To add an enchanted-forest feel to the dining table centerpieces, table numbers were spray painted on wood slabs.
Photo: Evelyn Alas
Memorial visitors, construction workers, and first responders were among those featured in the house-of-cards centerpieces designed by 360 Design Events.
Photo: Jamie Watts Photography
Simple centerpieces of apples kept with the New York theme and the seasonal decor.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
New York University's Tisch School of the Arts West Coast Benefit Gala
A recent gala in Los Angeles channeled the Big Apple in a big way. New York University's Tisch School of the Arts hosted its West Coast Benefit Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in late October. A soundtrack of New York street sounds played in the ballroom, where dinner tables were set with mini replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge and tiny yellow taxis.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
Graphic design firm Alfalfa Studio looked to the event’s location for inspiration: Toy taxi cabs accented a colorful picnic blanket that displayed an outline of Manhattan created from iconic city imagery, and a construction-worker-style lunchbox functioned as the picnic basket.
Photo: Becky Yee Photography
For the Redcat gala, Two Serious Ladies designed the artful decor that included a constellation of golden, glowing orbs hanging above the main room and centerpieces made of glittering bananas, toy horseshoes, marble pyramids, and golden dice.
Photo: Stefanie Keenan
For an event for Munchkin baby products in Los Angeles in November, Jeannie Savage of Details Details used toys on the tabletops to "evoke childhood memories," she said, for the bloggers, event planners, and influential mom guests in attendance.
Photo: Jessica Claire
Recording Academy's Grammy Celebration
To evoke the concept of vintage travel, tabletop centerpieces included a globe in a bowl of roses from CJ Matsumoto.
Photo: Sean Twomey/2me Studios
Grammy Foundation Legacy Concert
Elite Productions International designed the floral decor for the the Grammy Foundation’s V.I.P. reception and performers' green rooms at the concert held on Thursday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The team brought in an eight-foot-tall manzanita tree and raised it onto a table as the focal point in the reception space. The tree had hanging orbs filled with candles, flowers, and succulents, and was surrounded by various arrangements of large succulents and fresh flowers.
Photo: Cynthia Halverson
