Staging

Tired of the all-white leather look? Leslee Bell of Decor & More is creating lounge areas with rental furniture that incorporates textured fabrics such as suede, chenille, herringbone, and wide whale corduroy, along with throw pillows featuring stripes, abstract patterns, and animal prints.

Vintage China Hire offers an eclectic mix of vintage and antique tableware for events of as many as 120 people. Vintage China Hire has also partnered with Loic Gourmet to offer catered afternoon tea packages for a minimum of 12 people.

Contemporary Furniture Rentals has a variety of items ideal for pulling off a rustic look, including barrel stave chandeliers, coffee and cocktail tables made from reclaimed wood, and its new Farmhouse dining chairs (pictured).

In an effort to prevent large staging and exhibit structures from ending up in landfills, Arlington, Virginia-based design firm Beth Singer Design has developed modular staging systems that can be reused, reconfigured, and resized. The portable, lightweight frames are easily customized with a variety of wrinkle-free fabric skins.

Event planning company Well Rehearsed offers its ready-made Streets of San Francisco centerpiece collection for rent or purchase. The 10 reusable designs in the line incorporate some of San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks, imagery, and neighborhoods.

Blueprint Studios rents a variety of modern display furnishings engineered to contain the latest technology, including media towers, coffee tables, and bars fit with LCD displays. The company’s Museo collection also includes its new iPad station that can be branded and customized.

Rental company Archive Rentals has a showroom in San Clemente offering vintage items, handmade furnishings, and antiques for events. The company’s vintage Western- and camp-themed rentals (think reclaimed wood tables, picnic linens, horse tack, canoes, and retro Airstream trailers) are ideal for summer events.

Searching for modern-looking, green-minded centerpieces? Britton Neubacher-Caligure of Tend Living often eschews florals in favor of succulents, air plants, and cacti, to create organic-looking arrangements. Neubacher-Caligure also offers how-to workshops.

Scottsdale-based company BizBox offers solar-powered, portable pop-up buildings that can be used as mobile showrooms, food shops, retail stores, or tradeshow display centers. The sleek units can be purchased or leased, and feature glass walls, display panels, and a wraparound deck, all of which can be set up in about 20 minutes. The newest model features full-glass siding.

The new SculptLamps from Scottsdale-based SculptWare can work as centerpieces or cocktail-table accents. Available to rent in two sizes—14 inch, $45, or 30 inch, $65—the lamps include remote-controlled LEDs that can glow in 13 colors.

Available to rent for events in Arizona starting at $9,000, Just Light That offers pressure-sensitive interactive LED-lit floors in sizes up to 24 by 32 feet that can be synced to music. The floors can also display logos, animated images, scrolling text, or static branding.

Lititz, Pennsylvania-based production and scenic goods company Atomic Design has introduced its modular Buule and Laser panels. The 5-foot-wide fabric panels have zippers so you can customize the length and width of your backdrop. For easy shipping, a 50- by 30-foot drape fits in a 24-inch cardboard box that weighs 70 pounds.

Add a rock ’n’ roll vibe with tabletops from Max King Events that are made to look like acoustic and electric guitars. The tops can be used on 30- or 42-inch stands. The handcrafted tabletops are available in 12 designs. Prices start at $85.

The Little Glass Slipper is a new floral shop in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, owned by Cary Pereyra, who creates arrangements that offer a dose of aromatherapy. Her creations can include botanicals like echinacea for a weak immune system or mood-boosting lavender for seasonal depression.

Taylor Creative Inc. is now carrying Kartell’s invisible coffee table. A match for Louis Ghost chairs, the sleek Lucite tables rent for $150 each, and there are 16 available. Also new to Taylor’s inventory: Kartell’s invisible dining tables.

The new graffiti-inspired “Tag It” line from AFR Event Furnishings includes items such as leather sofas, chairs, acrylic tables, and ottomans that guests can permanently leave their mark on with Sharpies. The furniture items, which are for sale only, can be displayed in the office post-event.

Atlas Party Rental carries a variety of new brightly colored dishes that can add a splash to tabletops. The eye-catching purple-and-turquoise Luxe charger (pictured) rents for $8.

Little World Design specializes in sculptural, botanical objects and installations. Owners Heather Pando and Manuel Acosta favor long-lasting materials, like branches, seed pods, feathers, moss, stones, linen, and even real butterfly wings.

Holo-Walls offers interactive LED liquid tabletops filled with pressure-sensitive fluids that are designed to fit on 30-inch round cocktail tables. The illuminated, chrome-edged tiles are available to rent from $100 each; matching Liquid Fusion dance-floor tiles are also available, starting at $50 per tile.

The Vintage Table Company offers vintage china, glassware, and flatware sourced from estates, thrift stores, and flea markets, for a completely mismatched tabletop look.

Town and Country Event Rentals now offers the Cielo Blanco 4- by 8-foot dining table, available with custom fabric insets.

California-based La Tavola Fine Linen Rental has opened its first Las Vegas showroom. The company offers 11 linen collections, as well as coordinating pieces, like napkins and seat cushions.

For place settings that tie into the rustic, all-natural trend, rent Swift & Company’s 500 new Capri wood chargers for $7 per piece. Crafted from reclaimed wood and made by hand in the company’s Houston workshop, the chargers’ patinas and distress marks make for a striking tabletop element.

Event rental company Suite 206’s new Savile Row collection—from $55 to $350 for individual pieces—is inspired by the London street famous for its bespoke men’s tailoring shops. The masculine-looking furniture collection includes pieces such as the Wayly chair (pictured) and the tufted Ted settee in gray, silver, and black.

New England Country Rentals is a full-service Boston-based event rental company. The inventory includes bars, lounge furniture, china, flatware, chairs, glassware, and vintage decor items, but the company specializes in rustic custom-made tables, chairs, and benches.

At the culinary event at New York's Pranna on April 2, large marquee letters spelling out "Food & Wine" surrounded a lounge area.

The large balloons marked with the names of Fox shows also led the way to the upfront's after-party at the Trump Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park.

Univision hosted its annual Hispanic 411 forum, an event that educates brand marketers and agencies on Hispanic trends and culture, at the Epic Hotel in Miami in February. Produced by Production Resources Group and designed by Shiraz Events, the stage had to conform to the ballroom’s low ceiling height and sphere-shaped chandeliers, which were ultimately incorporated into the set.

Shiraz Events helped produce Oxygen’s upfront event in New York last year. At the colorful bash, held inside the Penthouse at Dream, the centerpiece was a presentation platform topped with a 25-foot-wide, 14-foot-tall yellow arch embedded with marquee lights. The piece was modular, allowing the team to construct it and break it down in under an hour.

In February, Teva Pharmaceutical hosted a three-day conference at the Fairmont Waterfront hotel in Vancouver. Playing off the event’s 007 theme, AVW-Telav designed the opening session stage to look like the office of MI6 head “M,” with a faux fireplace, working light fixtures, and a red leather door. The presentation began with a James Bond-inspired video montage starring the company’s vice president, who eventually appeared on stage via a hidden opening in the set’s bookcase.

In April, a Fragrance Foundation award breakfast took place at New York’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel. For the 20- by 12-foot stage, designers from Empire Entertainment created a floral backdrop that mimicked the blooms sprouting in Central Park, which the venue overlooks.

Diffa’s Believe gala in Chicago last year had a garden-inspired setting. A small stage was used only for the DJ and announcements, but producers from Event Creative added a pergola to give the raised platform more presence and to incorporate it into the event’s overall look and vibe.

The logo of ESPN the Party, which illuminated the floor near the entrance, included a playful take on the New York subway system with "NYC" mimicking the colors and shapes used to identify the train's different lines. Maxim also used subway imagery on the custom T-shirts worn by staffers.