Innovative Ideas

Oysters XO servers make their way through a crowd, shucking oysters on the spot.

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.

Menu cards at an event designed by Canvas & Canopy were held by ceramic hands.

Los Angeles-based artist Jorge Pardo created special-edition lanterns to hang above the tables at the Hammer Museum gala.

At a Los Angeles event, guests were invited to create their own custom fragrances at a flower-dotted scent bar.

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

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.

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.

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.

In keeping with the carnival theme, the Stella McCartney Resort 2013 presentation in June put mac and cheese bites on a miniature ferris wheel.

The festive, laid-back setting for Univision's Deportes launch earlier this year came courtesy of a taco truck and wooden picnic tables.

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

Keep the energy up at an in-office meeting by providing a sugar rush courtesy of John Kelly Chocolates. The company's offering known as "the Slab" is three pounds of truffle fudge. Order in any of 17 flavors. The confection serves 48 people and measures 5 by 11 inches.

For entertaining a serious V.I.P. or for an indulgent corporate gift, offer a skincare session at the airy new Beverly Hills office of Gina Mari. In the brand-new space designed by Barondes Morris Design, Mari and her team offer high-technology skin-care therapies, and count a large number of male visitors among their clientele.

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.

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 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 an Aaron’s Catering promotional event for clients at Haven Lounge in Miami in July, a server passed fruit bars to guests, and then a second server approached with a tray of misters filled with alcohol to spray on the popsicle.

Pinch Food Design in New York created a taco station, where guests could decorate homemade tortillas with an array of toppings served in custom-made resin pedestal pieces inspired by handcrafted Mexican pottery.

The cocktail napkins for the 2002 opening of Prada’s store in SoHo in New York were useful in two ways, with an itinerary and maps showing the locations for the night’s multiple parties.

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. 

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.

#2 Art & Design Event (new to the list)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s "Art+Film" gala in November was the debut of the buzzy new annual event. This year, the event will honor artist Ed Ruscha and Stanley Kubrick with Steven Spielberg paying tribute to the late filmmaker. Leonardo DiCaprio co-chairs and Gucci is the presenting sponsor. Next: October 27, 2012