Matthew Parker Events crafted lighting fixtures for a speakeasy-themed wedding using hats from a party supply store, decorative ribbon, corded wire, and filament bulbs.
Photo: Yvonne Wong
11. A Swinging Time
The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art’s 2009 ArtEdge benefit had a lighthearted feel, with childhood games and activities including a large swing set.
Photo: Eric Craig for BizBash
13. Lit From Above
For a private dinner in 2006, JMVisuals created an unexpected overhead lighting trick: rows of frosted votives suspended from the ceiling on square Lucite tiles.
15. Looking Up
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Johnson & Johnson displayed photographs on a wall that curved upward.
Photo:Â Eric Powell for BizBash
17. Stage Lift
For a 2006 Motorola event, KSE Productions suspended a metal platform from the ceiling as an unconventional lectern and used stretch-fabric video screens as a backdrop.
Photo: Jeff Thomas/ImageCapture
31. Show the Way
Travel & Leisure used oversize balloons as a cheap and effective way to mark a pathway for its 35th birthday celebration, held in Los Angeles in 2006.
Photo: BizBash
Balloons on the Ceiling
Giant balloons suspended from the ceiling served as the focal point at the DX Gala. What's more is that the color-washed room was updated with a new hue with each course.
Photo: George Pimentel
Handheld Menu Displays
Menu cards at an event designed by Canvas & Canopy were held by ceramic hands.
Photo: Sarah Yates for Birds of a Feather
Umbrella Chandelier
Decor at the Children's Aid Foundation's Teddy Bear Affair came in the form of season-inspired vignettes—for spring, guests saw clear umbrellas with glittering beads as rain.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
Artsy Lanterns
Los Angeles-based artist Jorge Pardo created special-edition lanterns to hang above the tables at the Hammer Museum gala.
Photo: Stefani Keenan
Train Travel-Inspired Escort Cards
For a wedding at Union Station in Los Angeles, Sterling Engagements displayed escort cards printed to look like train tickets inside vintage suitcases.
Photo: Callaway Gable Photography
Create-Your-Own-Perfume Bar
At a Los Angeles event, guests were invited to create their own custom fragrances at a flower-dotted scent bar.
Photo: Elizabeth Messina
Textured Ice Globes
For a birthday party, Kristi Amoroso Special Events designed a vodka shot bar that displayed bottles in a sculptural arrangement of textured ice spheres.
Photo: Nick Brown Photography
Upside-Down Centerpieces
Designed by Bold American Events & Catering, upside-down centerpieces of tulips and glass globes hung overhead at a wedding at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta.
Photo: Our Labor of Love
Rustic Lounge Seating
Inspired by an English picnic and styled with rustic elements, the V.I.P. area of this year's Power Ball in Toronto had loading pallets that served as banquette seating and cocktail tables. Tufted velvet couches and colorful pillows rounded out the mix.
Photo: Josh Fee for BizBash
Barrel Tables
To match the Mexican hacienda-inspired look of its New York event in May, Don Julio used authentic tequila barrels as part of the decor, including tables set up in the outdoor terrace.
Photo: Marion Curtis/Startraksphoto.com
Low-Tech Game
Colorful and family-friendly games, including hopscotch, were offered at a block party held by Sunglass Hut to celebrate the opening of its largest outpost in Miami.
Photo: WorldRedEye.com
Ferris Wheel Food Display
In keeping with the carnival theme, the Stella McCartney Resort 2013 presentation in June put mac and cheese bites on a miniature ferris wheel.
Photo: Jim Shi
Hay-Bale Seating
The 2012 color of the year, orange, was paired with hay and chevron patterns at a Belvedere-sponsored event during the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Photo: Aubree Dallas for Belvedere Vodka
Garden-Inspired Table Settings
For summery, garden-inspired events, LoLo Event Design offers hand-painted handkerchiefs that can serve as table numbers and be paired with potted centerpieces.
Photo: Studio Vitri
Bottled Place Cards
For a beachy vibe, LoLo Event Design created message-in-a-bottle place cards.
Photo: Kjeld Mahoney Photography
Tailgate-Style Decor
The festive, laid-back setting for Univision's Deportes launch earlier this year came courtesy of a taco truck and wooden picnic tables.
Photo: Brian Ach/AP Images for Univision
Paper Flower Wall
Luxe Event Rentals & Décor's handmade paper-flower walls, showcased at last year's BizBash New York Expo, can be customized in different colors and function as room dividers, stage backdrops, and back-bar displays.
Photo: Jeeyun Lee/BizBash
Beach Ball Chandelier
Hanging beach balls formed a colorful chandelier at a party created by Swank Productions.
Photo: Courtesy of Swank Productions
Genealogy-Style Seating Chart
To help guests get to know one another, Mélangerie makes customized wedding genealogy charts that double as seating maps.
Photo: Courtesy of Melangerie Inc.
Instagram Printers
Brooklyn-based Instaprint printers print out Instagram photos taken at a certain location or marked with an event-specific hashtag.
Photo: Courtesy of Breakfast
Expert at-home party hostess Danielle Rollins' new book, Soirée: Entertaining with Style, is published by Rizzoli.
Photo: John Kernick/Courtesy of Rizzoli
Rollins (pictured, left) and fashion designer Lela Rose collaborated on a Texas-inspired dinner party at Rose's ground-floor living space in TriBeCa. Succulents "were a perfect fit with Lela's aesthetic approach to modern design," writes Rollins of the tabletop decor, which also included turquoise tapers in Frances Palmer’s "Alice in Wonderland" candle holders. Guests received DVDs of Peter Sellers' movie The Party as take-home gifts at the end of the night.
Photo: John Kernick
For a springtime luncheon on the lawn of Rollins' home, rounds were covered in vibrant chinoiserie tablecloths. "Centerpieces of goldfish in bowls, a nod to my inner Auntie Mame, were set atop bright orange lacquered plant stands," writes Rollins. Silver julep cups holding pink peonies surrounded the bowls. "Napkins with colorful, embroidered floral letter Rs, bamboo-handled flatware, amethyst-colored water glasses, and aqua-bordered tented name cards written in a beautiful calligraphic hand in yellow ink tied the look together."
Photo: John Kernick
Rollins used inexpensive bread baskets as individual picnic baskets during a friend's birthday weekend in the south of France. "Guests' faces actually lit up with delight when they found a plate, napkin, silverware, and lunch all tucked inside," writes Rollins. Silverware was rolled in paisley napkins, tied with raffia, and placed alongside dishwasher-safe Mottahedeh Turkish Garden tin plates.
Photo: John Kernick
For a dinner Rollins hosted in honor of Oscar de la Renta that benefited Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the hostess covered a long dining table with burlap and linen and topped it with simple arrangements of dahlias and wheatgrass. Fruitwood Chiavari chairs complemented the garden setting.
Photo: Sarah Dorio
The table at a holiday dinner thrown for close friends displayed a clear vase filled with cranberries, peonies, roses, and pepper berries.
Photo: Quentin Bacon
Each flower was hand made and comprised of custom-printed stock, crepe paper, and tissue paper.
Photo: Claire Barrett Photography
Farmhouse Chic Tabletop
For a chic, outdoorsy feel, set tables with items available in Chicago from Tablescapes (or go for a similar look): Vintage Crystal Basketweave charger, $7.50; Cutout Lace plate, $3; Christian silver flatware, $0.80 each; rectangular plate, $1.50; Traditional silver demitasse spoon, $0.65; mini glass jar, $0.90; Vintage Etched glassware, $2 each; Rust Satin napkin, $2.50; Silver napkin tie, $2; Aged Farm square tabletop, $45.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Whimsical Rustic Tabletop
Tablescapes also has pieces that work for a whimsical, rustic look: Bronze Iridescent runner, $12.50; Ivory Hemstitch napkin, $3.60; Dancing Garden charger, $7.25; Sevres salad plate, $2.25; Mother of Pearl flatware, $0.90 each; Mother of Pearl napkin ring, $2.50; Aged Farm square tabletop, $45.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Live Fish as Tabletop Decor
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
Chevron Linens and Simple Sunflowers
At a Belvedere-sponsored event during the 2012 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, chevron-patterned linens topped cocktail tables, and sunflower bouquets served as centerpieces.
Photo: Aubree Dallas for Belvedere Vodka
Feminine Table Numbers and Potted Flowers
LoLo Event Design offers hand-painted handkerchiefs that can serve as table numbers at a garden event. Set alongside flowers in a terra cotta pot, tables get a more casual feel than an elaborate formal centerpiece—just right for an alfresco event.
Photo: Studio Vitri
Wooden Vases for Colorful Flowers
At Barbra Streisand's fund-raiser for the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center in Malibu, colorful floral arrangements in wooden vases played off the outdoor setting.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
Fresh-Picked Floral Centerpieces
For the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Centerdinner, held inside Streisand's home, neutral tones and fresh-picked centerpieces formed a summery setting.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
Live Greenery on Tabletops
At Diffa’s Dining by Design event in Chicago, an attention-grabbing booth was Haworth's table designed by 4240 Architecture. Inspired by the concept of urban agriculture, the table had a wall aquarium and live flowers, vegetables, and greenery.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
Earthy, Succulent Arrangements
Also at Diffa, Sarah Dippold Design's table had small tureens that held earthy arrangements of mosses, berries, and succulents.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
Mexican-Inspired Tabletop Decor
At a Chicago launch party for wedding registry site Poladora.com, Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event set a festive, colorful table with Mexican inspiration.
Photo: C. Saville Photography
Canopy Table Covering
At Diffa’s Dining by Design event in New York, Croscill's table resembled a canopy bed. It was covered in a bright pink quilted tablecloth and surrounded by clear Chiavari chairs.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
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
A Still-Life-Inspired Fruit and Floral Centerpiece
Also at Diffa in New York, Rachel Laxer Interiors with Robert Kuo designed an ode to Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard with a centerpiece of moody floral arrangements and fresh fruit.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Breath of Life Gala
Here's an idea for stylishly dividing up a large event space: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation celebrated with its annual Breath of Life gala at the National Building Museum in Washington in 2011. Streamers divided the National Building Museum atrium into three spaces.
Photo: Neshan Naltchayan for BizBash
During Coachella, a huge crowd packed into an airport hangar in Thermal, California, for the Armani Exchange and T-Mobile's Neon Carnival. Guests entered the space through a dramatic up-lit corridor.
Photo: Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com
Illuminated Balls
The performance included a sea of illuminated orbs, held by performers clad in silver spandex. San Francisco company Got Light has similar fixtures, which they used at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Modern Ball in 2014. Got Light collaborated with Stanlee Gatti on the night's overall design.
Photo: Courtesy of Got Light
Wedding Paper Divas and Mindy Weiss Luncheon
To mark the launch of a collaboration between Mindy Weiss and Wedding Paper Divas on a new collection, the well-known social event planner and the social stationer hosted an intimate, feminine luncheon at Los Angeles's new Lombardi House on February 25. At the event, guests could fill bags with a custom potpourri mix.
Photo: Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for Wedding Paper Divas
Chicago Botanic Garden's "All Aboard" Event
On December 4, the Chicago Botanic Garden hosted its "All Aboard" fund-raiser. After viewing the garden's elaborate, indoor miniature train set, guests had dinner in one of three dining rooms decorated by Event Creative. One room, with a "Frozen Radiance" theme, used glossy all-white furniture and frosty blue lighting to create an icy look.
Photo: Courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden
New York Indie Beauty Expo
Crowns by Christy created flower crowns for the crowd.
Photo: Taylor McIntyre/BizBash
When David Stark created the decor for a Culture Lab Detroit dinner in September 16, he took inspiration from Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen's Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, a multimedia examination of chicken breeding; Vanmechelen incorporates the project in his solo exhibition at the Detroit art gallery Wasserman Projects, where the dinner took place. To pull in the theme, Stark topped tables dressed in natural canvas with raw wood risers that held open egg cartons, containing 80 dozen eggs. After the party, the eggs went to the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm to be sold alongside their produce.
Photo: Susie Montagna/David Stark Design and Production
Coach x Colette Popup Launch Party
Coach celebrate the launch of its new collaborative Coach x Colette collection with a party at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on October 25, followed by a pop-up at the brand's SoHo story through November 1. Decor provided a photo opp for guests to imitate roaring like a prehistoric beast.
Photo: Samantha Nandez/BFA.com
Photo: Adam Hunger/AP Images for Freeman
FX 'Legion' Where?House
To promote its upcoming Marvel TV series Legion, FX hosted an immersive art exhibit at Villain in Brooklyn from January 27 to 29. The show's key art mural, which was created by David Flores, incorporated augmented reality by inviting attendees to download the Blippar app on their smartphones, then aim it at the mural and watch the art come to life.
Photo: Taylor McIntyre/BizBash
FX 'Legion' Where?House
Another installation was a forced-perspective art piece created by Michael Murphy. Titled "Suspension of Disbelief," the installation was created by hanging a variety of household items strategically to spell out the title of the series. Attendees could stand on a floor marker to see the materials align perfectly to spell out the title in FX's style.
Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for FX Networks
10th Annual Book of Lists Party
Washington Business Journal hosted its annual Book of Lists Party on January 26 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Floral designer Philippa Tarrant crafted paper flowers out of old editions of the publication.
Photo: Courtesy of the Washington Business Journal
The National YoungArts Foundation's Backyard Ball
The YoungArts Foundation's annual gala took place January 14 at the organization's campus in Miami. The event, which was produced by Wow Factor Marketing Group, had an origami theme with decor including a ceiling installation featuring suspended paper butterflies.
Photo: Ryan Troy/World Red Eye
New York-Theme Bar Mitzvah
A New York-theme bar mitzvah planned by Party Perfect took place at AMP by Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland, in January. The event featured a suspended hanging dessert buffet from a faux tree designed by Design Foundry. Ridgewells catered the event.
Photo:Â Tony Brown/Imijination.com
New York-Theme Bar Mitzvah
The event also included a faux food truck that served poke bowls and shrimp chips. AJ Strasser from Sculptural Solutions provided the New York-theme decor.
Photo:Â Tony Brown/Imijination.com
Sundance Film Festival
The 33rd edition of the Sundance Film Festival took place January 19 to 29 in Park City, Utah. Festival sponsor Acura hosted its Festival Village, which showcased the 2017 Acura NSX in a variety of ways—including a full-size ice sculpture embedded with LED lighting to highlight features of the model's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD technology.
Photo: Courtesy of Acura
Sundance Film Festival
Throughout the festival, sponsor Francis Ford Coppola Winery hosted parties and activations, including a custom oversize wine cork mural at the Sundance Co-Op. The winery commissioned artist Scott Gundersen to create the mural—titled "The Big Picture"—through the duration of the event. Attendees also were able to contribute to the installation.
Photo: Courtesy of Francis Ford Coppola Winery Mural
Screen Actors Guild Awards Gala
People magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation hosted its Screen Actors Guild Awards Gala on January 29 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The event, which had a Parisian street theme, featured façades meant to evoke Parisian storefronts.
Daybreaker SF Cognitive Dance Party
Daybreaker recently hosted a morning dance party at Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco. Symmetry Labs created the custom dance floor, as well as an LED-powered sun that "rose" throughout the early-morning event.
Photo: Kristina Bakrevsk
At the House of Kim Crawford—a fashion-focused event on August 3 in New York—a golden balloon installation designed by Jessica Fels Event Production and Design and executed by Mixed Greens Events created an eye-catching focal point. The summery event, which also featured bottle art installations, a fortune-cookie tree, and a silhouette-artist station, was produced by Fels and Shadow.
Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images
Skincare brand La Roche-Posay's street promotion in 2013 brought a colorful suspended installation of branded parasols to New York's Madison Square Park.
Photo: Courtesy of La Roche-Posay
The Museum of Modern Art in New York honored writer and director Alfonso Cuarón at its 2014 film benefit. Large metal sculptures, trimmed with LED lights, were suspended from the ceiling of the museum's lobby.
Photo: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
For the Blaffer Art Museum’s annual gala in Houston in April, creative studio Matter designed a gilded meteor shower ceiling installation using NASA space blankets—an idea inspired by the event’s space theme, as well as the metallic trends seen on recent fashion runways.
Photo: Max Burkhalter
A table at Diffa Dining by Design in Chicago in 2013 had a canopy of twigs and a wraparound scene of birds flying in a blue sky, giving the vignette a calming vibe.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2015 Costume Institute celebrated all things Chinese. To create a feeling of intimacy in the expansive Engelhard Court, designers lowered the ceiling to 14 feet by hanging nearly 200,000 stems of wisteria overhead.
Photo: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
More than 5,000 T-shirts created a colorful canopy overhead at the Jewish Museum’s Purim Ball in 2014. The custom tees were painted with tongue-in-cheek takes on classic slogans, like "Frankie Says Relax It's Purim" and "Got Spiel?"
Photo: Susie Montagna
At Diffa Dining by Design in New York in 2015, Smartwater's space aimed to reflect the brand's natural water purification process, which is mirrored after rain clouds. The fluffy fixtures lit up like a storm above the simple table setting.
Photo: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
At Diffa Dining by Design in Chicago in 2014, inner tubes suspended from the ceiling were one of many playful touches at the tropical cabana created by Kehoe Designs.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
At the Unicef Hope Gala in Chicago in April, designers put an elegant spin on a childlike theme by creating a canopy of suspended neon Slinkys above the dance floor.
Photo: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for UNICEF
For a Coca-Cola event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a ceiling installation design was inspired by a burst of bubbles exploding from a Coca-Cola bottle. The installation lit up in gold whenever athletes won a gold medal.
Photo: Tiago de Paula Carvalho
At the Friends of the High Line spring benefit in 2014, more than 1,000 linen panels hung from the ceiling in the dining room. Designers dip-dyed them by hand in a dozen inflatable children's pools, and they changed color based on the lighting.
Photo: Christian Oth Studio
Chicago hosted the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW conference in 2014. At the splashy opening-night party, hanging letters and signs served to divide the space and add a sense of intimacy throughout.
Photo: Timothy Musho Photography
At the 2012 Screen Actors Guild awards after-party in Los Angeles, a diamond-shaped, draped ceiling treatment created a dramatic effect.
Photo: Nadine Froger Photography
For the Food Network's 20th anniversary party in 2013, dozens of prop macarons made from Styrofoam were rigged to create a 10-foot-tall chandelier that hung over a dessert station.
Photo: Amanda Schwab/StarPix
For a destination wedding in Big Sur, California, producer and designer Sterling Engagements suspended a 12-foot dream catcher decor piece above the dance floor.
Photo: Courtesy of Sterling Engagements
At the New World Symphony gala, held in Miami in March, decor included hanging floral installations made up of white flowers, moss, and driftwood.
Photo: Sonja Garnitschnig
At a New York bar mitzvah, 400 luminaries filled with LED candles were hung from a large oval truss on the ceiling to create a supper club atmosphere.
Photo: Andre Maier Photography
For the Whitney Museum of American Art’s final gala in the historic Breuer Building in 2014, dining room decor included hanging paper lanterns with the names of honorees.
Photo: Cornelia Stiles/BizBash
Designers of the 2009 Bell Gala in Toronto evoked a fairytale theme with oversize flowers and playing cards hung from the ceiling.
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash
As part of U by Kotex's Period Projects, a multiyear program and project series aimed at changing the way people think about periods, the brand debuted a "period pop-up shop" in New York in May. The event featured a ceiling installation created with dangling tampons.
Photo: Taylor McIntyre/BizBash
Dramatic chandeliers created an elegant tone at the MSNBC White House Correspondents’ Dinner party in 2012.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images for MSNBC
For the 2011 Design Exchange gala in Toronto, hundreds of balloons hung from the ceiling during the V.I.P. dinner. The space changed color with each course, starting with blue, morphing to pink for the main course, changing to orange for dessert, and ending in red.
Photo: George Pimentel
At the 2012 Steppenwolf Gala in Chicago, script pages from the theater’s recent production hung from round chandeliers on the ceiling.
Photo: Kyle Flubacker
Lucite chairs, candles, and sleek white linens dressed the 150-foot tables at the Joffrey Ballet gala in Chicago in 2010.
Photo: Greg Davis/Powell Photography Inc.
At a dinner to mark new gallery openings at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011, Heffernan Morgan bathed webbed scrims in golden light to cast spiderweblike patterns throughout the modern dinner space.
Photo: Robert Carl
