Luxe Event Rentals also showed off two dramatic new curving chaises: the “Epic,” displayed in white, and the “Horizon,” shown in pink.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash
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
One of the more ambitious installations was the two-story tree house that Evette Rios designed for hayneedle.com. Constructed by John Zukowski of C&C Design Construction Group, large tree trunks functioned as steps leading up to the table. An alcove with a hammock and a grass-covered floor was tucked underneath the structure.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Led by Isabel and Ruben Toledo, New York University students put together a table with a shabby-chic theme.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
The focus of Domus Design Collection’s installation for The New York Times was a giant, living wall of textured greenery. Also cool: a Waterford Crystal chandelier intertwined with an umbrella hung above the table.
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
Eric Warner's table for Aesthete Ltd. had a subtle equestrian theme. LED tea lights and globe lights hung from stirrups and horse bits, and horse motifs appeared on the plates and the art hanging from the walls.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
Many of the tables this year opted against traditional floral centerpieces. David Stark's whimsical installation for sponsor Benjamin Moore, based on the brand’s new Color Stories paint collection, played off the slogan “A whole new chapter in paint color technology is being written.” The library-inspired setting featured a table made from actual books, with handcrafted pop-up books serving as a centerpiece.
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
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
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
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
The ubiquitous QR code took center stage at the Input Creative Studio table. The illuminated tabletop was cut to resemble a QR code, with neon Lucite towers growing out of the center. Recyclable takeaway containers—a commentary on the temporary nature of digital society—took the place of traditional place settings.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Alternative Centerpieces
Students from the New York School of Interior Design (working with design mentor Clodagh) used rope to create a dramatic setting. In lieu of any type of centerpiece, a chandelier of Lucite and filament bulbs was reflected in a mirror running down the table's center.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
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
Diffa Trend: Patterned Fabrics
Several tables incorporated patterned fabrics. Marimekko's "Color Therapy" exhibition balanced the company's colorful patterned fabrics with plain white chairs and plates.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Patterned Fabrics
Jonathan Adler's design for Kravet featured his yet-to-be-released new fabric collection. The upholstered chair "walls" formed vase cut-outs when pushed together, referencing the centerpiece of various ceramic and porcelain vases on the fabric-covered table.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Patterned Fabrics
Echodesign's space had a modern tribal feel, with a feather chandelier, printed fabric panels, and a patterned table runner that extended down to the floor.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Patterned Fabrics
The Tilton Fenwick table was an explosion of floral patterns. The Christian LaCroix-inspired look sat atop a platform hand-painted to match the tablecloth. Clear Chiavari chairs were chosen so as not to compete with the pattern.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Neutral Palettes
Several of the tables had organic, neutral palettes. Ralph Lauren Executive Vice President and CRO Alfredo Pares (who received the inaugural David Rockwell Diffa Service Award this year) hosted an natural-looking table designed by Mark Cunningham Inc. A woven Kwangho Lee lighting fixture dripped into a metal bowl filled with oversize leaves.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Neutral Palettes
A burlap-wrapped filament bulb fixture lighted Marc Blackwell's bar-height table for La Crema. Moss centerpieces inside glass cloches completed the rustic yet elegant look.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Neutral Palettes
Ralph Lauren went with a cozy, ski-chalet-inspired look. Centerpieces of snowberries and wrought iron lanterns created a runner down the center of the rustic wood table. Other striking details included a faux fireplace, Pendleton-inspired bench cushions, and an antler chandelier.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Neutral Palettes
For the first time, Diffa expanded beyond dining installations to feature a custom bar and lounge area, sponsored by EFFEN Vodka and designed by the brand’s designer partner, Richard Chai. The modern space showcased a sculptural blonde wood bar inspired by the circular shape of the EFFEN bottle.
Photo: Marion Curtis/Star Pix
Diffa Trend: Residential Design
Another trend was settings that took inspiration from the home. Ethan Allen went for a preppy Florida-vacation-home look with a grassy carpet, feathered flamingos, and a centerpiece of hot pink tulips.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Residential Design
Roger Thomas's setting for Maya Romanoff had the feel of a fancy dining room in a penthouse apartment. The organic centerpiece—a mound of moss dotted with mushrooms, quartz, and orchids—contrasted with the luxe gold place settings.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Residential Design
Interior designer Libby Langdon's table for Liebherr showcased a chandelier made from wine bottles and filament bulbs. A lush centerpiece of greenery, succulents, and moss completed the homey style.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Diffa Trend: Residential Design
Arpad Baksa Architect recreated a New York City apartment rooftop party that included faux pigeons and hanging glass globes filled with viburnum.
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
Interactive Cooking Classes
Boston chef Lydia Shire now hosts interactive cooking classes for private groups of 12. The three-hour sessions cost $3,000 and take place in the open kitchen at Shire's restaurant, Towne Stove & Spirits.
Photo: Courtesy of Towne Stove and Spirits
Textural Backdrops
New York's Pink Powered by Moss is putting the finishing touches on its new Wave Form units. The 4- by 4-foot curved, stackable cubes made from an aluminum-tube frame and stretch fabric can be used to create textural backdrops, walls, and towers.
Photo: Courtesy of Pink Powered by Moss
Food-Truck Catering
The first-ever food truck from Chicago's E. Leaven Food Company specializes in an impressive range of breakfast, lunch, and dessert items, including short rib piewiches and chopped salads, and can provide catering for meetings and events for groups of 10 or more guests. Most menu items cost less than $10 apiece.
Photo: Eben Dorros
Outdoor Aerial Dancers
Scarlett Entertainment (281.900.4176, scarlettentertainment.com) now offers site-specific outdoor aerial dancers for events. Available nationwide, the artists use aerial and ballet techniques to perform across the face of buildings and can incorporate silks, ropes, zip lines, bungee cords, and partner balancing tricks.
Photo: Amitava Sarkar for Blue Lapis Light
Book for Foodies
For a client or employee gift, wrap up a copy of Eating Las Vegas: The 50 Essential Restaurants (Huntington Press), $12.95, with picks from local dining critics and authors John Curtas, Max Jacobson, and Al Mancini.
Photo: Courtesy of Huntington Press
Rentable Mid-Century Furniture
New Los Angeles-based rental company Yeah! Rentals (323.522.3843, yeahrentals.com) specializes in mid-century furniture, like Eames chairs and Knoll sofas, as well as pieces by local, independent artisans. Their inventory is available for delivery throughout Southern California and can accommodate as many as 500 guests.
Photo: Courtesy of Yeah! Rentals
Metallic Linens
Orlando's ConceptBait Global Events & Floral Design Group has several new additions to its “Liquid Metals” linen collection. The wet-look spandex, which fits over armless chairs, now comes in silver, gold, and titanium hues, and starts at around $5.25 each. Coordinating table covers will roll out soon.
Photo: Courtesy of ConceptBait
Digital Aquascapes
Coral Morphologic (coralmorpho logic.com) is teaming with the Miami Science Museum on a multimedia project to be displayed at the Miami International Airport, where high-definition screens will showcase corals as living art forms in digital aquascapes. The installation is meant to build excitement for the museum’s new $275 million facility opening in 2015.
Photo: Juerg Schreiter for BizBash
Handmade Doughnuts
Toronto's Glory Hole Doughnuts (gloryholedoughnuts.com) has been garnering buzz with flavors like maple bacon, chicken and waffles, and lemon meringue. The supplier can deliver as many as 300 handmade doughnuts or 500 “Lil’ Glories” for events.
Photo: Beach Blonde Productions
Modular Staging Systems
In an effort to prevent large staging and exhibit structures from ending up in landfills, Arlington, Virginia-based design firm Beth Singer Design (703.469.1900, bethsingerdesign.com) is developing modular staging systems that can be reused, reconfigured, and resized. The portable, lightweight frames are easily customized with a variety of wrinkle-free fabric skins.
Photo: Courtesy of Beth Singer Design
