PC station ideas

The tour began in the Departures Lounge, where a flight attendant gave each guest a boarding pass that contained a map, Wi-Fi information, and the event hashtag. The lounge also featured a first-class seat from a British Airways plane, where guests were invited to sit before they took off for their tour.

Floral and event design company Hatch Creative arranged the flowers in the Liberty of London room. The floral display, paired with the black and white backdrop, was designed to look like the entrance to the famous Liberty Store in the English capital.

Sandwiched between two iconic British telephone booths, the "GREAT" structure was made out of foam core. Guests were invited to fill in the blank on stickers that read,  "... is GREAT Britain," and then paste them to the block letters to create a sticker graffiti piece, a trending art form in the U.K.

To become a cab driver in Britain, you must first pass an exam about the history and geography of the area. Guests were invited into the taxi frame by an actor playing one of the notoriously outspoken black cabbies to play the Black Cab Challenge, a series of trivia questions about British culture. Players were entered in a raffle to win two round-trip British Airways tickets and a three-night stay at the Sanderson Hotel.

Highlighting the past culture of the U.K., the "Story of Punk" installation, styled by ExtraExtra creative director Nicky Balestrieri and stylist-designer Vaughan Alexander, featured mannequins with mohawks dressed like the rockers and rebels of the movement. Inspired by icons Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westood, and the Sex Pistols, the styles of the 1970s are still very much present in today's trends. A plaque present at the display explained the movement and the "story of punk."

A paper chandelier that hung over a bar featured cocktail recipes that guests could take home, as well as vintage photos of Great Britain and pages from British literature. At the bar beneath, London bartending collective Fluid Movement prepared drinks for guests incorporating Beefeater 24, a new version of the classic gin brand. Two of the collective's concepts, Worship Street Whistling Shop and Purl, performed cocktail-making demonstrations from behind Victorian-style bars.

A British flag was constructed out of 256 hanging blue, red, and white teacups. The wall on which they were arranged separated the Worship Street Whistling Shop bar and the Mad Hatter's Tea room, which offered tastes of the popular tea brand and small bites from Luna & Curious.

Wah Nails, an East London nail bar, offered speedy manicures featuring U.K.-inspired designs like the Union Jack, black-and-white houndstooth print, and other blue, white, and red patterns. Both women and men lined up to get their nails painted.

The walls surrounding the Wah Nails station were covered in cutout pages from British fashion magazines like Dazed and Confused and i-D, similar to the real salon's walls. The pages were scanned and printed as one image on giant sheets of paper and then pasted on the walls as one application.

"The Edible Cityscapes" installation, a table featuring a display of landmarks from England, Scotland, and Wales made entirely out of sweets, was created by New York-based food designer Maeve Sheriden. The London Candy Company provided the confections which included Time Out bars, Jammy Dodgers, Cadbury Crunchie bars, and Digestive Biscuits. Other culinary offerings included tastes of Scotland from the West Village's Highlands Restaurant Group and cheese like Caerphilly, Collier's Cheddar, and Red Dragon from Wales.

The first flight, Crunch, was designed to naturally open guests' ears—a reaction when crunching on a food—to the music and set the tone for the evening. Buffet items included a sugar snap pea salad made with watercress, mung sprouts, hon shimeji mushrooms, grilled eggplant, and a ginger lime chili sauce. Waiters also passed crab salad in crunchy cucumber cups and mashed lava beans and English peas served on a crostini.

Another salad option during the Crunch flight mixed pomelo, green papaya, watermelon, and radish. The citrus flavors tied in with a jasmine tea margarita passed as guests arrived.

The second course, Smoke and Bitters, included stronger flavor pairings in dishes like halibut fillets seasoned with orange zest, fennel, and black olive tapenade and served on a bed of grilled radicchio. The music also shifted to a lower tempo and key infused with lots of brass instruments and bass.

The cocktail for the second flight set the mood for the food and music taking things down a notch. Beetroot daiquiris made with rum, red wine, espresso, and lime lined the catering displays throughout the three spaces of the first floor for guests to sample.

A pineapple and mint julep accompanied the third flight—entitled Salt—made with gin, yellow chartreuse, fresh pineapple juice and mint along with barley miso to add a bit of saltiness for pairing with the food. Gastrophonic mixologist Stuart Bale created each cocktail with inspiration from the musical composition for that flight.

Continuing with the upswing of the musical and taste elements from the third flight, the final cocktail—an Herbaceous Lemon Fizz—had the lightest note of the evening. It fit with the Citrus Sparkle theme by combining herbaceous lemon vodka, dessert wine, lemon sherbet, and prosecco to create a light, frothy drink. Desserts paired with the cocktail included lemon curd sandwich cookies, margarita parfait with prickly pear glee, and seasonal fruit tartlets.

Atmosphere Lighting illuminated the main atrium of the museum differently for each of the four flights, transitioning from green to red and oranges, yellow, then blues and purples for dessert.

At Diffa’s Dining by Design in Chicago in November, an elegant tailgate party inspired the vignette from Sparc Inc., designed by Richard Cassis and Hunter Kaiser.

Guests entered the Bahia Mar Beach Resort & Yachting Center through an inflatable football helmet tunnel for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County’s homecoming-theme Déjà vu Ball in 2010.

Tables at the premiere of football player Ernie Davis’s 2008 biopic, The Express, featured football-appropriate centerpieces that included pom-poms, helmets, and pennants.

At The Express premiere, the night’s dessert offerings included truffle pops displayed in glass containers holding layered sugar that was coordinated with Syracuse University’s team colors.

Gesture recognition technology can lend an innovative techy vibe to a tailgate bash. For the Sports Illustrated Heisman Tour, Brightline Interactive created a two-person game where players tried to complete the most football passes in one minute.

Solo cups are an often-spotted component of any tailgate party. Turn them into decor by arranging dozens of the cups inside the spaces of hurricane fencing to spell out game day messages.

Custom foam fingers—like those seen at this year’s Boobyball benefit in Toronto—are sure to get guests in the mood to root for their favorite teams.

Serving chili to a large crowd? Take a page from Jewell Events Catering, which had its staffers serving chili from trash cans at Chicago’s ArtEdge gala in February 2013.

Let guests customize their own game day food by hosting a burger station like the one overseen by Peter Callahan Catering at Burger King’s summer menu preview in New York last May.

Or, instead of serving potentially sloppy burgers, offer an updated, bite-size take on sliders: Serena Bass for Special Attention Caterers in New York skewers grilled sirloin meatballs with romaine hearts, tomato, cheddar cheese slices, bacon, chipotle mayo, and brioche croutons.

The New York City Wine & Food Festival introduced a new event during this October’s festivities dubbed Jets & Chefs: the Ultimate Tailgate hosted by Joe Namath and Mario Batali. At the walk-around sampling of top chefs’ takes on game day cuisine, Coors Light created a football-theme photo op.

Wings are a game day staple. At Jets & Chefs, New York City barbecue joint Mighty Quinn’s gave the classic snack an update by smothering crispy, smoked chicken wings with chile-lime sauce, scallions, and cilantro.

Mary Giuliani Catering & Events offered guests at Jets & Chefs fish and chips in paper cones printed with sports news. Green Lucite trays that resembled a football field displayed the snacks.

Food service company Sysco Metro NY served tacos and other hors d’oeuvres from a station covered in Astroturf at Jets & Chefs.

Boston nonprofit Team Impact hosted its first Game Day gala in Boston in 2012. The tailgate-inspired decor included college-style pennants and fresh grass evocative of a football field.

In 2012, the N.F.L. hosted its first fan-focused Super Bowl party in Canada, gathering guests in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. Toronto’s party took over Sound Academy, where Astroturf carpet marked with yard lines covered the floor and a retractable screen was lowered over the stage while the game played.

Outside of the N.F.L. Super Bowl XLVI party in Toronto, guests showed off their gridiron skills at inflatable game stations, where people could kick a field goal, throw a pass, or race their friends.

The N.F.L. hosted two Super Bowl events at Sun Life Stadium in Miami in 2010, including an official N.F.L. Tailgate. As part of the festivities, pastry chefs competed in a cake decorating competition.

Budweiser threw its version of a tailgate party to promote N.F.L. games in Toronto in 2008. A Budweiser trailer was parked at the outdoor bash, and guests enjoyed barbecued fare and could participate in games like football toss.