2012 ideas

The Jamaica Land We Love Gala, which celebrated Jamaica’s 50th year of independence, took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on August 11. The Carpenters and Allied Workers Local 27 constructed and installed the event’s main stage—which would typically cost around $80,000 dollars—as a pro-bono project. Shaped like the country of honor, it was 100-by-30-by-6 feet high with several smaller stages attached.

Macy’s Passport Presents Glamorama, which travels to four cities, had its Chicago stop at the Harris Theater on August 13. The fashion show's design included a new method for video playback with a semicircular LED wall. At times, the video wall showcased the models onstage so that guests could get a closer view at what they were wearing. At other times—such as during the Tommy Hilfiger segment, which had a hunting theme—scenes that underscored the collection's aesthetic appeared as a backdrop.

As a whimsical way to introduce the brand, the August 9 launch party for Thorny Rose Wines had guests playing Jenga and an artist creating a mural at the rooftop of the Hotel Chantelle.

As part of a series of promotional events for the opening of Ted Baker London’s flagship store in New York this past weekend, the British clothing brand hosted afternoon tea service replete with its own house staff of maids and butlers.

At the August 11 launch party for her new line of clothing, tennis champ Venus Williams hit balls with guests young and old on the courts of a private Southampton estate.

The Climate Reality Project worked with Action Marketing Group to create a digital and social campaign that popped up at several spots in Washington this week. Using the hashtag #ImTooHot, visitors to a branded ice cream truck are asked to write a tweet or Facebook post explaining how they have been affected by the heat. In return, people received free "climate" ice pops, gifts, and information about climate change.

At the launch Wednesday of her Truly Scrumptious by Heidi Klum children's merchandise line, Klum colored on a mural set up in the Babies "R" Us store in New York's Union Square. Klum said she designed the artistic activity herself to entertain the event's smallest guests, who also could have their face painted, play dress-up, and have balloon animals made.

Disney premiered The Odd Life of Timothy Green on August 6 at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Events by Fabulous created a rustic country-garden feel, with fall-colored trees and lighting effects that mimicked the changing of the seasons. At the center of the space was a bar installation built with redwood fencing. Teleflora sponsored yellow rose arrangements that were displayed on burlap-covered tables that included twine-wrapped jars of pencils from the film's "Stanleyville Factory" and note pads scribbled with the lead character's traits.

For events it is catering for the Republican National Convention in Tampa August 26-30, Good Food Catering Company will serve a new twist on canned tuna: seared ahi tuna drizzled with wasabi sauce served atop seaweed salad in an individual tin can. The company is catering a total of 68 events for more than 2,400 people.

Taking over Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on Friday, TH Productions teamed up with Fox to produce a stunt promoting Gordon Ramsay's new show, Hotel Hell. The experiential agency worked with Acme to design and fabricate a 3-D 'Hotel Hell' facade complete with real cockroaches and a life-size cutout of the show's star, Gordon Ramsay. Two brand ambassadors, dressed in bellhop attire, passed out branded keys on silver platters to all who passed by. The bellhops encouraged consumers to attempt to unlock the door to the mock hotel on Hollywood Boulevard; the consumers whose keys unlocked the door won prizes provided by Fox.

As a nod to Anderson, large black scrims in the tented lounge displayed lyrics from her songs, including "Falling," "Strange Perfumes," and "Thinking of You."

LongHouse is a 16-acre campus in East Hampton founded by Jack Lenor Larsen, who also founded the eponymous decorative fabric company that is still a leader today. His preserve and museum have quietly become a major player in the arts and celebrity benefit scene, and Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Kim Cattrall, and Edward Albee were all on hand to prove the point. The event featured dancers in gold and hooped dervish dresses and had other performance pieces to honor Robert Wilson, the founder of Watermill Center. This floating balloon was projected with a lunar image, concocted by Matt Murphy Event Lighting.

The invitation’s suggested dress code was “Compose Yourself in White, Black, and a Touch of Voguish Yellow” and Pennington Flowers decked out the lap pool to match.

At a 40th birthday party, Susan Holland Events filled the Stephan Weiss Studio in New York with disco ball lights and projected French surrealist films, while a swing hung near the dance floor.

Todd Events made a wedding held inside a large barn in Aspen seem more intimate with two tall signature bars and scattered seating and food station vignettes. Hanging glass globes appeared to lower the ceilings.

Inspired by the family’s love of candy, David Monn used ring pops, gummy frogs, lollipops, and sour apple gummy rings to create the centerpieces at a recent bat mitzvah.

Ritzy Bee Events used craft paper and chalk to label the passed appetizers for a rehearsal dinner at the Decatur House in Washington so guests wouldn’t be left guessing.

For a donut-themed bridal shower put together by blogger Elsie Larson, a giant chalkboard filled with descriptive doodles served as the backdrop of the food spread.

For an upscale dinner party, Fête presented a clambake menu in a formal, modern setting by having waiters serve custom Plexiglas trays filled with seafood.

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.

Guests created custom perfumes at a scent bar set up by Ka-Mil-Yin, a Los Angeles-based fragrance company that specializes in perfume parties, to take home as a favor from a bridal shower.

For a dandy-themed graduation party in Hollywood, Canvas & Canopy designed a dessert buffet that eschewed the twee look in favor of a sophisticated display of treats on cake stands made from vintage candlesticks and shelves built using industrial pipes.

For a New York couple marrying at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Heather Snively of Weddings Unique recreated the newlyweds’ hometown with a hand-painted backdrop of Central Park from Greenery Productions. Lighting and real trees helped the scene come to life.

Marcy Blum Associates built a bakery-style display case to offer guests breakfast-to-go treats from New York bakeries at the end of a wedding reception.

Jes Gordon/Proper Fun created a supper club atmosphere at Gotham Hall in New York for a recent bar mitzvah. Four-hundred luminaries filled with LED candles were hung from a large oval truss on the ceiling.

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.

For a wedding at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta, Bold American Events & Catering designed an upside-down centerpiece of yellow tulips and glass globes that hung above the head table.

David Beahm Design put together a farm cart filled with Israeli market-inspired treats, like jars of honey, nuts, and dried apricots, which was displayed at the wedding of a couple looking to tie in their Israeli roots. Guests filled small burlap bags to take home.

At a wedding designed by Triton Productions, the focal point of the pre- and post-ceremony cocktail area at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach was a custom-designed 360-degree bar made of corrugated mirror.

Bryn Chernoff of Paperfinger created custom calligraphy stamps of each guest’s name, which doubled as place cards and favors at a private dinner party held at the Foundry in New York.

The tables at a graffiti-themed bar mitzvah designed by David Stark Design and Production, held at Center 548 in New York, displayed arrangements of daffodils and ranunculuses sprouting from cinder block planters.

Bathroom amenity baskets are a staple at social events, sometimes tying to the event’s motif, like this one created by State of the Art Enterprises for a bar mitzvah with a graphic pattern theme.

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 bar mitzvah at the Ravenswood Event Center in Chicago.

For a vodka shot bar at a birthday party designed by Kristi Amoroso Special Events, the bottles were displayed in a sculptural arrangement of textured ice spheres.

Mélangerie Inc.’s customized wedding genealogy charts detail the relationship of the wedded couple to their guests with the help of a relationship key. Guests browse the chart during the cocktail hour to learn about their tablemates.

For a wedding at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Marc Hall Design built seven-foot-tall mirrored glass vessels to hold apple tree branches adorned with phalaenopsis orchids that were kept hydrated through a system of hand-blown glass pipes.

For a bat mitzvah at Guastavino’s in New York, Susan Holland Events used Tyvek pillows hand-stitched with neon thread as chargers. After the meal, waiters threw the pillows in the center of the tables, where they glowed under black light.

Levy Lighting and Preston Bailey collaborated on a wedding after-party lounge held in a tent, with the ceiling lit from behind to create the glowing effect.

The V.I.P. area of Toronto's Power Ball was styled with rustic elements for an English-picnic look. Designers used loading palettes as banquet seating and cocktail tables.

At this year's Casa de Don Julio event in New York, the outdoor terrace was decorated with Mexican-inspired decor, with barrels and wooden benches used for guest seating and cocktail tables.

Dubbed "Hannah Mermaid," model Hannah Fraser is available for corporate events, and specializes in underwater "aquabatics" and open-water diving.

For Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment's Step Up Revolution premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on July 17, a flash-mob-style dance troupe comprised of folks from the crowd and the theater took over the arrivals area for a high-energy red carpet experience. Chad Hudson Events coordinated the stunt, with 15/40 Productions on board for permitting, carpet, and fencing.

Hospitality brand Nikki Beach hosted a V.I.P. pop-up lounge for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009. The space on the 18th floor of the Park Hyatt was outfitted with flowing white curtains and white quilted leather furnishings, and white-lacquered bamboo was used to divide the space.

In May, Sheraton Social Hour—a wine program developed by Sheraton and Wine Spectator magazine—dressed up the entry hall of Rockefeller Center's 620 Loft & Garden with a large lighting structure, comprised of 125 Riedel champagne flutes. To give the illusion of bubbling champagne, New York-based design studio We Came in Peace filled each glass with tinted resin that held the light bulb in place, and topped it off with a layer of micro glass beads for a foam-like effect.