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Turner Broadcasting Latin America presented its newest lineup at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center in October. At the preshow cocktail reception, Triton Productions cloaked the space with LED backdrops and placed a 40-foot-long bar made of ice on one side of the room. Behind the bar, a performer on a platform acted as the focal point.

BrownHot Events partnered with Mille Fiori Floral Design to create an 8- by 20-foot paper flower backdrop for the V.I.P. tent bar at the third annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Los Angeles in October.

Aerial performers poured champagne for guests at the National Association for Catering & Events holiday party Monday at the Vault in downtown Tampa. The party had a speakeasy theme: guests received the address and password after they registered for the event, and entertainment from Event Show Productions included burlesque dancers and actors playing poker. Vendors included event planning and execution by Sandy Rule; decor, furniture, and lighting by MMD Events; draping by Quest Drape; and catering by Good Food Catering.

The Whitney Museum of American Art’s gala, an event that was rescheduled when Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, took place at the art institution’s Upper East Side home on December 11. To decorate the bare white walls of the museum, designer David Stark used black painter’s tape to create urban street scenes and shapes.

To celebrate a 70th birthday, a couple chose a Casablanca theme in an homage to their favorite movie. JOWY Productions designed and produced a party at the family’s Los Angeles home that recalled a stylized ‘40s supper club. JOWY turned the front yard into a Moroccan lounge decorated with seating groups, pillows, tables, glass lamps, and hookah pipes evocative of the North African locale.

Each table was different and had white tablecloths, wood bistro chairs, and a mixture of Moroccan lanterns and candles. Infusing the dining space with color, JOWY’s design included cobalt blue plates, colored tea glasses for wine, and Moroccan platters and salt and pepper dishes. Guests supped on regionally inspired dishes family style.

Guests gambled at a roulette table and noshed on tray-passed Moroccan-influenced hors d’oeuvres such as mini crab cakes with harissa remoulade, smoked salmon on potato pancakes with cardamom crème fraiche, lamb meatballs with tomato and minted yogurt dipping sauce, and spanakopita. A quartet played vintage ‘40s tunes.

Valet attendants and waiters wore fez hats to advance the theme.

Yahoo C.E.O. Marissa Mayer recently celebrated her 38th birthday on the San Francisco Bay's Treasure Island with a beach boardwalk theme. A huge tent housed a massive sand castle decked with beachy props and entertainment, according to Business Insider.

Samantha Sackler and Tammy Morgan Ratner's new social event production firm Social (a division of Samantha Sackler Productions) produced a destination 50th birthday party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that treated guests to a weekend filled with events. The festivities kicked off with a welcome dinner on the beach featuring a live-action taco bar, a piñata hung from a truss structure, live entertainment, and s’mores over a fire pit. The weekend included activities like poolside cocktails and beachside volleyball tournaments. It was all capped off with a dinner at one long table overlooking the ocean.

At the end of the evening at the 50th birthday party in Mexico, a fireworks display was coordinated to the honoree's favorite songs.

Sackler and Ratner's Social also produced a winter-wonderland-theme child's birthday party that created a snowy look and feel in Los Angeles. A custom-designed treat display offered sweets—and real snow allowed for sledding activities.

The Washington area's Events In the City designed a Great Gatsby-theme 30th birthday party for an intimate 38 guests with a cake done in 1920's-inspired designs.

Events In the City's design details included mini handmade gold sparkly swizzle sticks in champagne saucers.

So-called "Prohibition punch" was wrapped in paper bags for a speakeasy feel.

Maria Menounos recently celebrated her birthday with a luau theme at her home in Hollywood, sponsored by C. Wonder and Patrón. She blew out candles on a summery multicolored tiered cake.

A live snake added drama amid the celebrity guests.

A fire dancer advanced the Hawaiian luau theme.

To celebrate a 75th birthday and pay tribute to the honoree’s birth era, JOWY Productions designed and produced an event with a Coconut Grove-style, ‘30s and ‘40s vintage feel. The Los Angeles event for 200 took its inspiration from the theme “Let’s Relish Life,” a theme announced on the event’s printed materials. The entire party was black and white with silver and crystal accents.

A custom-designed ice sculpture positioned in the center of the entrance held champagne glasses in the round with a Krug jeroboam centered and elevated for all to see.

Many designs at the National Stationery Show were printed on real wood, like the retro-patterned one from Designers' Fine Press.

Plum Blossom Press's take on the wood-printed look includes an additional tactile experience: a suede envelope liner.

A rustic invitation printed by AR-EN Party Printers has a letter-pressed wood grain pattern.

A more budget-friendly way to jump on the trend: Checkerboard's digitally printed wood grain pattern envelope liners.

Planning a country-western-themed event? Luscious Verde's poster-style invitation, framed with a faux bois border, has an appropriately rustic horseshoe motif.

The poster-style invitation suite from B.T. Elements comes with a ticket-style enclosure (pictured, top right).

Speaking of poster-style invites, larger-format poster-size invitations were also a big (no pun intended) trend. The one by Ladyfingers Letterpress has a Motown vibe.

Artsy, watercolor-painted designs, like the letter-pressed Watercolor invitation suite by Printerette Press, were popular at the show.

Blue and green brushstrokes on a flat-printed design from Tag & Company offer a summery feel.

No longer confined to squares and rectangles, invitations and envelopes featuring unique die-cut shapes—as exemplified by the invitation from Roxylou Design & Press—are on the rise.

B.T. Elements also has die-cut envelopes with patterned liners.

Basic envelopes are out, and colorful patterned envelope liners are in. At Kramer Drive's booth, a magnetized board displayed several of the company's liner options.

Ikat is the hot pattern of the moment. The Ikat invitation from Avie Designs features the textile pattern on belly bands and envelope liners.

Another hot trend was Gatsby-inspired design aesthetics, like the fan-patterned envelope liner seen in the vintage-looking suite from Checkerboard.

Eco-friendly stationery line Smock's new album includes 24 designs with offerings such as digitally printed liners with as many as four colors.

Laser cutting is a technique that involves a computer-controlled laser cutting paper into intricate patterns. The Avie Designs booth displayed several delicate laser-cut designs.

Dolce Press also offers a custom laser-cut option.

Kleinfeld Paper's preppy Palm Tree Monogram suite includes a laser-cut floral belly band.

Laser cutting can be pricey; for a less expensive option, look for digitally printed paper-cut-esque designs, like the invitations from B.T. Elements.

Ombre, a style in which colors subtly transition from one shade to another, is trending in the event design world. One of Tag & Company's invitations featured the sought-after look.

Elum's letter-pressed Tide invitation is a clean, modern take on the ombre trend.

Ladyfingers Letterpress's punny ombre greeting cards were nominated for Best New Product at the show.

Invitations with design inspired by Mexican folk art abounded, such as the suite from Minted.

A colorful letter-pressed invitation suite by Dolce Press is accented with patterns that look to be inspired by the traditional ceramic tile work found south of the border.

Combining two trends, Avie Designs' festive laser-cut invitation is modeled after the Mexican craft of papel picado (cut paper).

Kraft paper is ideal for signaling a casual, laid-back affair. The Hadley suite from Something Detailed's 2013 wedding collection employs kraft paper.

Letter-pressed dots form a swirling vine motif on the invite-holding kraft paper pouch pocket from Designers' Fine Press.

Eschewing patterns and motifs, many designs, including the custom one from Ladyfingers Letterpress, focus on a mix of hand-penned fonts for a look that feels equal parts classic and whimsical.

Paisley Tree Press's Mattituck invitation suite features hand-written calligraphy letter-pressed onto bright white paper.

Quaint, hand-painted illustrations were spotted all over the trade show floor, including at the booth for B.T. Elements' that showcased the Claire invitation suite from its Ashton Collection.

Illustrations were also present on the selection of hand-painted greeting cards from One Canoe Two.

Invitation designers reported that one of the most requested colors right now is gold. A popular way of achieving the glamorous metallic look is foil stamping, a printing technique that involves pressing shiny, opaque colors onto paper. Haute Papier offers an extensive collection of foil stamped goods.

Social stationery line Twist Paper showed off a shiny gold patterned design.

The foil-stamped design printed by AR-EN Party Printers also played into the Gatsby trend.

Kate Spade escort cards, foil stamped with gold polka dots, encourage mingling. (Beginning this summer, Kate Spade's stationery line will be available through Lifeguard Press.)

Hipster-fied, camping-inspired motifs and patterns popped up at booth after booth. The new Notes From Camp boxed stationery set from One Canoe Two retails for $22 and features hand-painted plaid and bandana patterns.

The new hand-illustrated Ferme A Papier collection was inspired by Parisian hipsters and biodynamic farms, according to creator Cat Seto. Her foil-stamped plaid and gingham note cards retail for $5 each.

Other invites offered a more Southwestern vibe with patterns reminiscent of Navajo textiles, such as the Clove suite by Wednesday.

Another invitation with a Southwestern-style summer-camp feel: Caroline Creates offers an eco-friendly collection printed on recycled white card stock.

Chalkboard-like design details can offer a crafty, lighthearted vibe. Tag & Company offers a flat-printed invitation.

Carlson Craft also has a few of the options featuring chalkboard details.

Black-and-white stripes accent Something Detailed's stationery suite printed on a chalkboard-style background.

Several designers found inspiration in the heavens. A letter-pressed invitation from Smock's new line features a mix of hand-lettered fonts and a map of the constellations.

Oblation Papers & Press has a sleek, pared-down interpretation of the celestial theme.

A letter-pressed invitation from Paper Boat Studios comes wrapped in a pocket printed with a detailed star chart.

Attention-grabbing colors dominated over more subtle, pastel choices. A collaboration between Haute Papier and Dabney Lee has produced a collection of neon-hued note cards.

AR-EN Party Printers showed off a graphic, flourescent triangle-patterned invite.

From event planner Shawn Rabideau's brand-new collection for Kramer Drive comes an eye-popping, trippy design.

A blind impression is a method of letter-pressing paper without using any ink to create a subtle motif or pattern. The invite, from Designers' Fine Press, features blind impressed polka dots.

Printerette Press had two examples of blind impressed patterns paired with colored text.

Hand-painted edges can add a subtle pop of color to an otherwise conservative invitation, as seen in the design from Elum.

Not wood, but an equally interesting textured print medium: Plum Blossom Press's Sonoma invitation suite is printed on cork, a style that would certainly set the right tone for a winery event.

One area was inspired by a 1960s London nightclub and was flush with neon hues. Buffets in the area were swathed in stretch patent vinyl.

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.

Stacks of books supported and decorated the dessert tables. Typewriters, globes, and open books added to the presentation.

The San Francisco Ballet's annual gala took over City Hall on January 24, bringing a striking look and bold color palette to the historic space. Set up for dinner, the rotunda was washed in colorful lighting projections, and lotus-shaped silk chandeliers hung overhead.

After designing a romantic red look for the tribute to Pedro Almodóvar last year, the Museum of Modern Art opted for a more masculine design at its film benefit honoring Quentin Tarantino in December. A mix of round and rectangular clear Lucite tables formed the dinner setup in the atrium. The sleek look was matched by clear chargers and Ghost chairs; clusters of pillar candles replaced flowers as centerpieces.