Story book

A Cinderella-inspired horse-drawn carriage stood at the entrance to the Liaison. "We wanted a wow factor immediately for the guests coming into the building," said NACE gala chair Kelly Anne Downes.

For the cocktail hour, the Capitol Hill hotel was turned into two Wizard of Oz-inspired spaces. After checking in, guests followed a projection of the book's infamous yellow brick road, which led into a bar and lounge styled after the book's Emerald City. Electric Entertainment created a custom gobo from an automatic moving projector and a lighting software to position the road to go across the length of the room.

The LED curtain behind the DJ booth in the Emerald City lounge was lit green to match the drapes throughout the room.

White tufted bars from Capital Party Rentals served signature cocktails in the Emerald City bar during the reception, and a yellow brick road projection served as the bar's backdrop.

To further the Wizard of Oz theme, Electric Entertainment created a custom gobo of Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion, which illuminated the emerald green-colored drapes from Drape Kings.

Romantic, lush greenery arranged by Edge Floral served as centerpieces in the dinner space that was designed to evoke an enchanted forest feel. "The forest has been a character to so many stories, and we wanted to bring it to life in the event," said Downes.

To add a piece of nature to the dining table centerpieces, table numbers were engraved on small pieces of a chopped log.

A nod to the poisoned apple in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, escort cards added another earthy element to the enchanted forest theme. Local calligrapher Meant to be Calligraphy created the escort cards that were attached to red apples from Edge Floral.

Dressed as the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion, dance crew Impactaction entertained guests with a performance of The Wiz dance medley in the Emerald City lounge during cocktail hour.

To announce the dinner portion of the event, a familiar storybook character, a trumpeter, played a tune as the cocktail hour ended.

In a reference to Cinderella's pumpkin carriage, pumpkin creme brulee from Superb Cuisine was served after dinner.

Superb Cuisine's "poison" candied apples were tied with a yellow ribbon, matching the colors in the outfit worn by Snow White in Disney's animated film.

The bash following dinner, dubbed the "happily ever after party" was held in a tent. In one room guests danced on a dance floor from Fox Ventures that was embedded with LED lights. "We used this element because they looked like night stars," said NACE gala co-chair Aisha Malik.

"I wanted one element in the tent to have 'happily ever after' in it," said Malik. The phrase was engraved by Fox Ventures on an illuminated glass bar in the after-party tent.