CDT Tech Prom reception

Red feather centrepieces

The Fairmont Royal York's Canadian Room was dressed in red decor.

Red feather balls on tall red batons served as centrepieces in the dining room.

Red cloth napkins folded into squares held the evening's program and menu.

The "Kuro Smash," served at Chicago's Union Sushi & Barbecue Bar, blends bourbon and cognac with lemon juice, simple syrup, blackberries, and tarragon seeped in Everclear.

“Customization is one of the biggest trends. Our most popular rental items in our inventory are the ones we create in our fabrication studio, working with materials including salvaged wood, acrylics, and metals. We find that clients want totally custom rentals, not pieces you can import from China that everyone else has.”  Michael Nedeau, PBD Events, Boston(Pictured: AOL’s presence at South by Southwest in March, designed by Fresh Wata)

12-inch metallic chargers, $4, available in Southern California from Town & Country Event Rentals

Croco charger, $8, available throughout South Florida from Atlas Party Rental

At an Art Institute of Chicago gala in May, Kehoe Designs covered the ceiling of an all-white lounge area with hundreds of clear balloons.

At the Zing vodka launch, the press wall took the form of a hedge with 2,000 roses spelling out the brand's name.

The step-and-repeat in the museum lobby featured the same oversize flowers used in the pop-up garden at the cocktail hour.

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.

Brooklyn-based Instaprint printers print out Instagram photos taken at a certain location or marked with an event-specific hashtag.

The Bosco offers video confessionals and photo booths with unique functions like a booth that creates images that appear in 3-D when viewed with 3-D glasses. The animated GIF function takes four pictures, then prints a physical copy and combines the photos into an animation that instantly uploads to the Web. The Bosco is available to rent throughout the world, and the company can design custom options, too.

Social Booth offers enclosed and open booths with accessories that can be custom-printed or wrapped with graphics and logos. The open Party Booth setup (pictured) can accommodate more than 15 people; photos can be printed on site, or guests can use nearby tablets to share photos online. The enclosed Duo Booth seats two people; printed photos arrive through an opening in the side of the booth, and guests can share photos online via a touch-screen. The company has specialists based in Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, and the booths are easily shippable to other locations. Basic packages start at $850.

Photoboothless recently launched Instaboothless, a photo system that prints out physical copies of photos taken on Instagram at an event. Guests take photos on their smartphones, then tag them with a specific hashtag which automatically uploads them to the Instaboothless printer. Designated event photographers also roam the crowd taking pictures of guests with the Instagram app and sending them to the printer. The prints include space for custom graphics and messages. Pricing starts from $650, and the system is available nationwide.

A balloon ceiling treatment covered the dance floor, where guests discoed to the Al Sofia Orchestra and DJ Rock City throughout the night.

A step-and-repeat with the Mariano's logo was gussied up with a red carpet and a slew of hanging disco balls.

A glittering "M" for Mariano's hung over the escalator, which led guests to the second floor. Having the event on an upper level created logistical challenges for event staffers, who had to use passenger elevators and coordinate with grocery-store deliverymen to use the freight elevators.

Floral decor included bright red roses and low arrangements of artichokes and baby eggplants.