This week's roundup includes a peek inside the glitzy parties surrounding the Academy Awards, an oil tanker that doubled as a billboard in Manhattan, chalkboard tabletops in Boston, and coconut cream pies served on plantain chips in Chicago.
The Sequoia-produced and designed Governors Ball drew inspiration from nature, interpreting the theme into a glamorous look that included massive vertical garden walls from Mark's Garden and a starry ceiling designed by Larry Oberman in association with ELS. The event's copious plants and greenery came from GreenSet.Â
New this year to the Oscar-party landscape was the Vanity Fair Social Club, a lounge located in Hollywood’s WeWork creative co-working space that provided bloggers and online journalists space to write, work, and be entertained. The setup, with production by the Projects, was billed as the first social club of its kind to be held during Oscar week.Â
At the pre-Oscars Essence luncheon, a clear-top cocktail tent included a Target-sponsored “Power of Our Presence” wall where guests could pull a message of inspiration; as the messages were removed, images of some of the event's honorees appeared beneath a star-shaped installation.
TNT's ambitious activation for Dallas on February 24 involved turning a Manhattan gas station into a flagship for the show's fictional family's business. The network's agency Grey also took over billboards and wrapped oil tankers with signage that read, "You can't strike oil without getting dirty" and "Fill 'er up."
On February 11, the James Beard Foundation was honored at the 21st annual Destination and Travel Foundation Dinner and Dream Auction at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Because the event was held in the midst of a long, cold winter—and because of its food-centric honoree—planners opted for a design scheme with springy green centerpieces that contained actual fruits and veggies. Your Event Solutions created the centerpieces.
The early February event had both "Big Brothers" and sisters and "Little Brothers" and sisters in attendance, so planners catered to both age groups. Kid-friendly decor included highboys with chalkboard surfaces. Jars of colored chalk let guests—both young and old—doodle as they sampled appetizers and drinks.
On Valentine's Day, in the midst of one of Chicago's coldest winters in decades, the Chicago Botanic Garden hosted a tropical-theme event to celebrate the opening of its new Orchid Show. Pink "Paradise" cocktails nodded to the rosy hue of the surrounding orchids.
Culinary Landscape handled the catering and served dishes like mini coconut cream pies on plantain chips.
Doodlebooth is a Chicago-based company that puts a hand-drawn spin on traditional photo booths. Illustrator Jana Kinsman, who's designed custom illustrations for clients such as CB2, sits with guests and quickly sketches their portraits. She gives the pictures out as keepsakes, and can also scan them into online albums that guests can digitally share.
The Gillette Leading Man Cam sponsored the Unite4:Humanity event in Los Angeles on February 27. Backstage, Gillette created a "charity wheel" that famous guests, including Robert De Niro (pictured), spun. The charity that the wheel landed on the most, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, received a donation from Gillette.Â
