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  1. Catering & Design
  2. Tabletop

CENTERPIECES AND TABLE

July 9, 2013
Poladora.com Launch Party in Chicago
Poladora.com Launch Party in Chicago
Mexican themes lend themselves to such whimsy and colorfulness. The table from A Perfect Event shows off a well-executed, conversation-starting example.
Photo: C. Saville Photography
Museum of Modern Art's Party in the Garden
Museum of Modern Art's Party in the Garden

The Museum of Modern Art’s annual Party in the Garden took place on May 21. Overhead, dense arrangements of tropical plants were suspended between white pillars, creating a jungle-like canopy effect.

Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
The 20th Anniversary Daffodil Ball Benefitting the Canadian Cancer Society
The 20th Anniversary Daffodil Ball Benefitting the Canadian Cancer Society

Billed as the most successful cancer-related fund-raising gala in Canada, the Daffodil Ball on April 18 had a Great Gatsby theme that brought the 1920s to life at Windsor Station in Montreal. In the cocktail space, a living fountain twirled around slowly.

Photo: Stephane Poirier
The iPad centerpieces from Keep Interacting can be customized for events.
The iPad centerpieces from Keep Interacting can be customized for events.
Photo: Courtesy of Keep Interacting
Unique Centerpiece Design in Los Angeles
Unique Centerpiece Design in Los Angeles
Little World Design specializes in sculptural, botanical objects and installations. Owners Heather Pando and Manuel Acosta favor long-lasting materials, like branches, seed pods, feathers, moss, stones, linen, and even real butterfly wings.
Photo: Manuel Acosta
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces

Stephanie Goto also skipped a centerpiece, instead creating what she called a "chan-dine-lier." Designed to feel like dining inside of a chandelier, the quirky table was encircled by fluorescent PVC strips. Inside, a circular bench surrounding the table was interrupted every few feet with a 2-D cut-out of a seated person. 

Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Centerpieces were instructed to make eye contact with guests, and communicate only nonverbally.
Centerpieces were instructed to make eye contact with guests, and communicate only nonverbally.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
The “Land, Sea, and Sky” theme of the National Geographic flag inspired an array custom tables and toppers, including glacier ice sculptures. Syzygy Events International created the custom pieces for the event.
The “Land, Sea, and Sky” theme of the National Geographic flag inspired an array custom tables and toppers, including glacier ice sculptures. Syzygy Events International created the custom pieces for the event.
Photo: Robert Isacson
A mix of round and rectangular clear Lucite tables formed the dinner setup in the atrium. The sleek look was matched by clear chargers and ghost chairs; clusters of pillar candles replaced flowers as centerpieces.
A mix of round and rectangular clear Lucite tables formed the dinner setup in the atrium. The sleek look was matched by clear chargers and ghost chairs; clusters of pillar candles replaced flowers as centerpieces.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Frost lit the room in a dark blue hue that played off the bright colors of the light sculptures.
Frost lit the room in a dark blue hue that played off the bright colors of the light sculptures.
Photo: Dan Rest
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
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
The Gorey-inspired floral centerpieces consisted of intersected pieces of laser-cut Plexiglas, which offered four distinct views from different sides of the table.
The Gorey-inspired floral centerpieces consisted of intersected pieces of laser-cut Plexiglas, which offered four distinct views from different sides of the table.
Eco-Friendly Linens
Eco-Friendly Linens

National linen rental company Creative Coverings has implemented new sustainable components to its manufacturing, shipping, and laundry departments. Initiatives include recycling damaged linens into alternate size coverings or swatch samples; teaming up with U.P.S. to design reusable canvas shipping bags for returning linens; and using eco-friendly product lines in the laundering process.

Photo: Matt Theilen
Mircea Manea, co-founder and principal, Blueprint Studios
Mircea Manea, co-founder and principal, Blueprint Studios
Photo: Courtesy of Blueprint Studios
Banquet-style dinner tables were given a sleek, modern look with purple orchids and candles arranged atop mirrored runners.
Banquet-style dinner tables were given a sleek, modern look with purple orchids and candles arranged atop mirrored runners.
Photo: Diane Bondareff/Travel & Leisure
BET Honors Dinner
BET Honors Dinner
Events by André Wells designed and produced the January 11 BET Honors Dinner in Washington. The event's signature color is purple, which Wells used in several sequined tablecloths from La Tavola. The linens provided sparkle, which was essential because the venue, the U.S. Library of Congress, did not permit candles or any open flames.
Photo: Davide De Pas
Naples Winter Food and Wine Festival
Naples Winter Food and Wine Festival
Sequined magenta tablecloths brightened up the auction tent at the 13th annual Naples Winter Wine Festival in January. Festival co-chairwoman Terry Edwards designed the event with linens from La Tavola. "I thought something sparkly would add some glamor and support our theme of When Stars Align," she said. "We also used star-like lighting in the tent, and for the first time we used high-resolution TV screens to show the auction items and live bidding. The colors really popped."
Photo: Mila Bridger
Materials such as crystal and glass lent modern touches to a historic building. Sequined tablecloths added sparkle.
Materials such as crystal and glass lent modern touches to a historic building. Sequined tablecloths added sparkle.
Photo: Davide De Pas
Pya Watering Can With Lights
Photo: Courtesy of Peggy Young & Associates
Samantha Sackler and Tammy Morgan Ratner's new social event production firm Social (a division of Samantha Sackler Productions) produced a destination 50th birthday party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that treated guests to a weekend filled with events. The festivities kicked off with a welcome dinner on the beach featuring a live-action taco bar, a piñata hung from a truss structure, live entertainment, and s’mores over a fire pit. The weekend included activities like poolside cocktails and beachside volleyball tournaments. It was all capped off with a dinner at one long table overlooking the ocean.
Samantha Sackler and Tammy Morgan Ratner's new social event production firm Social (a division of Samantha Sackler Productions) produced a destination 50th birthday party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that treated guests to a weekend filled with events. The festivities kicked off with a welcome dinner on the beach featuring a live-action taco bar, a piñata hung from a truss structure, live entertainment, and s’mores over a fire pit. The weekend included activities like poolside cocktails and beachside volleyball tournaments. It was all capped off with a dinner at one long table overlooking the ocean.
Photo: Courtesy of Social
A custom-designed ice sculpture positioned in the center of the entrance held champagne glasses in the round with a Krug jeroboam centered and elevated for all to see.
A custom-designed ice sculpture positioned in the center of the entrance held champagne glasses in the round with a Krug jeroboam centered and elevated for all to see.
Photo: Peter Bohler
Also available through Pressed Cotton are chalkboard tags, $3.50 each, which can be used as signage or place cards or can be hung from the neck of wine bottles to designate tables.
Also available through Pressed Cotton are chalkboard tags, $3.50 each, which can be used as signage or place cards or can be hung from the neck of wine bottles to designate tables.
Photo: Courtesy of Pressed Cotton
Blowing hot and cold
Blowing hot and cold

To play off the height of the giant new (air-conditioned! Yahoo! See the vents in the upper left corner!) tent, Southampton Hospital created towers of candles. Very chic. But being clumsy, I always steer clear of things like this...

Photo: Chris Arnold
Supersize me!
Supersize me!

Also ditching the tents this year was Parrish Art Museum. Since it moved from its Grosvenor Atterbury Beaux Arts-style mansion on Job’s Lane to the ultra-modern Herzog & de Meuron palace in Water Mill, the museum’s barnlike entryways served as a runway of sorts at the event.
 

Super-long tables ran the lengths of the outdoor corridors, giving diners the sense they were floating above the former potato fields that surrounded them.

Photo: Owen Hoffmann/PatrickMcMullan.com
Copious bunting hung over 170 tables for 700 guests in the V.I.P. picnic space.
Copious bunting hung over 170 tables for 700 guests in the V.I.P. picnic space.
Photo: Claire Barrett Photography
Linens, umbrellas, and bunting were all done in Veuve's distinctive color.
Linens, umbrellas, and bunting were all done in Veuve's distinctive color.
Photo: Claire Barrett Photography
Here’s a “naughty and nice” tabletop I came up with at the Party Rental Ltd. showroom in New York, with Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian in mind. Kate’s look was “pretty and perfect,” with royal-ready flatware, while for Ms. Kardashian I thought “high bordello” struck the right mood, with a giant pizza cutter that doubles as a mirror.
Here’s a “naughty and nice” tabletop I came up with at the Party Rental Ltd. showroom in New York, with Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian in mind. Kate’s look was “pretty and perfect,” with royal-ready flatware, while for Ms. Kardashian I thought “high bordello” struck the right mood, with a giant pizza cutter that doubles as a mirror.
Photo: BizBash
The Holiday Chic Suite
The Holiday Chic Suite

The Holiday Chic Suite, a lush pop-up space at the 900 Shops on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, is rife with ideas for D.I.Y. office gatherings or home entertaining this season. Overseen by Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event, the setup features place cards tacked onto green apples with bejeweled pins.

Photo: Maypole Studios Photography
Jeffrey Foster of Event Creative designed custom-built tables and props, including glowing baseball-diamond-shaped tables and a scoreboard that hung above the dance floor for a baseball-themed bar mitzvah in Chicago.
Jeffrey Foster of Event Creative designed custom-built tables and props, including glowing baseball-diamond-shaped tables and a scoreboard that hung above the dance floor for a baseball-themed bar mitzvah in Chicago.
Photo: Lee Ross Photography
With black-and-white checkered floors, the dinner was inspired by the restaurant Mr. Chow.
With black-and-white checkered floors, the dinner was inspired by the restaurant Mr. Chow.
Photo: Nick Jamison
Some 750 guests sat to dinner in glossy black chairs. The Asian-inspired menu from Blue Plate Catering included chilled lobster salad and grilled New York strip steak with Chinese long beans and Hunan-style eggplant.
Some 750 guests sat to dinner in glossy black chairs. The Asian-inspired menu from Blue Plate Catering included chilled lobster salad and grilled New York strip steak with Chinese long beans and Hunan-style eggplant.
Photo: Nick Jamison
Tall lamps crowned with feathery shades decked the dining area.
Tall lamps crowned with feathery shades decked the dining area.
Photo: Nick Jamison
After dinner, guests headed to a tent covering the museum's sculpture garden for a Bryan Ferry concert. The singer performed hits including his 1990 song 'Avalon,' along with singles from his upcoming album.
After dinner, guests headed to a tent covering the museum's sculpture garden for a Bryan Ferry concert. The singer performed hits including his 1990 song "Avalon," along with singles from his upcoming album.
Photo: Nick Jamison
A slew of hanging disco balls added a Studio 54-style vibe to the pop-up concert venue.
A slew of hanging disco balls added a Studio 54-style vibe to the pop-up concert venue.
Photo: Nick Jamison
Sparkly chandeliers hung above the bars in the concert tent.
Sparkly chandeliers hung above the bars in the concert tent.
Photo: Nick Jamison
The V.I.P. area was a sunken-living-room-style space replete with plush furniture, candles, and champagne chilling on ice. The area took two weeks to build out and upholster and was constructed by Kim Merlin, Event Creative, and Partytime Productions.
The V.I.P. area was a sunken-living-room-style space replete with plush furniture, candles, and champagne chilling on ice. The area took two weeks to build out and upholster and was constructed by Kim Merlin, Event Creative, and Partytime Productions.
Photo: Nick Jamison
The Retreat at Sparrows Lodge
The Retreat at Sparrows Lodge

At the Retreat at Sparrows Lodge, guests dined on healthy fare from New York's Fat Radish at a long, bohemian-style table. Steph Sciré and Isaac Ferry, who were behind the event, said they were motivated to create a place where they and their friends would want to be. Jeff Consoletti of JJ-LA produced, along with tour and event producer Tanya Slater. Taylor & Taylor managed the production design, which included antique Persian rugs, Native American artifacts, succulents, whimsical floral arrangements, oversize and kilim pillows, leather, and a silk patchwork canopy.

Photo: Tyler Curtis/WireImage
Rachel Zoe Brunch at the dFM House
Rachel Zoe Brunch at the dFM House

Rachel Zoe hosted an intimate brunch with DVF and Moët & Chandon Ice Imperial at the dFm House in Palm Springs. Fare Trade and Workshop Kitchen & Bar provided food.

Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Moet Ice Imperial
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Photo: Jeff Ellis
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