Fun Ideas

At a 40th birthday party, Susan Holland Events filled the Stephan Weiss Studio in New York with disco ball lights and projected French surrealist films, while a swing hung near the dance floor.

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.

Inspired by the family’s love of candy, David Monn used ring pops, gummy frogs, lollipops, and sour apple gummy rings to create the centerpieces at a recent bat mitzvah.

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 a donut-themed bridal shower put together by blogger Elsie Larson, a giant chalkboard filled with descriptive doodles served as the backdrop of the food spread.

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 a casual outdoor wedding in California planned by Kate Miller Events, gingham flags displaying table numbers were tucked into vintage soda bottles filled with flowers.

Guests created custom perfumes at a scent bar set up by Ka-Mil-Yin, a Los Angeles-based fragrance company that specializes in perfume parties, to take home as a favor from a bridal shower.

For a dandy-themed graduation party in Hollywood, Canvas & Canopy designed a dessert buffet that eschewed the twee look in favor of a sophisticated display of treats on cake stands made from vintage candlesticks and shelves built using industrial pipes.

For a New York couple marrying at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Heather Snively of Weddings Unique recreated the newlyweds’ hometown with a hand-painted backdrop of Central Park from Greenery Productions. Lighting and real trees helped the scene come to life.

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.

Jes Gordon/Proper Fun created a supper club atmosphere at Gotham Hall in New York for a recent bar mitzvah. Four-hundred luminaries filled with LED candles were hung from a large oval truss on the ceiling.

Matthew Parker Events crafted lighting fixtures for a speakeasy-themed wedding using hats from a party supply store, decorative ribbon, corded wire, and filament bulbs.

For a wedding at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta, Bold American Events & Catering designed an upside-down centerpiece of yellow tulips and glass globes that hung above the head table.

David Beahm Design put together a farm cart filled with Israeli market-inspired treats, like jars of honey, nuts, and dried apricots, which was displayed at the wedding of a couple looking to tie in their Israeli roots. Guests filled small burlap bags to take home.

At a wedding designed by Triton Productions, the focal point of the pre- and post-ceremony cocktail area at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach was a custom-designed 360-degree bar made of corrugated mirror.

Bryn Chernoff of Paperfinger created custom calligraphy stamps of each guest’s name, which doubled as place cards and favors at a private dinner party held at the Foundry in New York.

The tables at a graffiti-themed bar mitzvah designed by David Stark Design and Production, held at Center 548 in New York, displayed arrangements of daffodils and ranunculuses sprouting from cinder block planters.

Bathroom amenity baskets are a staple at social events, sometimes tying to the event’s motif, like this one created by State of the Art Enterprises for a bar mitzvah with a graphic pattern theme.

Jeffrey Foster of Event Creative designed custom-built tables and props, including glowing baseball diamond-shaped tables and a scoreboard that hung above the dance floor, for a bar mitzvah at the Ravenswood Event Center in Chicago.

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

Mélangerie Inc.’s customized wedding genealogy charts detail the relationship of the wedded couple to their guests with the help of a relationship key. Guests browse the chart during the cocktail hour to learn about their tablemates.

For a wedding at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Marc Hall Design built seven-foot-tall mirrored glass vessels to hold apple tree branches adorned with phalaenopsis orchids that were kept hydrated through a system of hand-blown glass pipes.

For a bat mitzvah at Guastavino’s in New York, Susan Holland Events used Tyvek pillows hand-stitched with neon thread as chargers. After the meal, waiters threw the pillows in the center of the tables, where they glowed under black light.

Levy Lighting and Preston Bailey collaborated on a wedding after-party lounge held in a tent, with the ceiling lit from behind to create the glowing effect.

Green-screen catwalks, the latest invention from the Bosco, debuted at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in partnership with H&M. Event guests were styled in H&M gear; then, they chose a motion-graphic backdrop from a selection of some 25 styles and walked or danced in place on a moving treadmill. Using green-screen-compositing technology, the Bosco staffers created videos of users walking virtual runways, and the festivalgoers were able to instantly share their six-second videos across all social media platforms. Pricing on rentals varies per activation, and the booths can be set up at events throughout the United States and Canada.

Super Frog Saves Tokyo, billed as “storytelling plus social theory,” provides video booths for private events, with a twist: the event narratives are filmed in slow motion. The video setup comprises a RED Epic Camera, four LED lights, and a backdrop operated by two or three staffers. The resulting videos require an estimated 25 hours of production. The company has a baseline fee of $6,000 for event rentals, and the final cost can be impacted by date, location, and other details.

The Self Enhancing Live Feed Image Engine, or “S.E.L.F.I.E.” mirror, was created by New York-based digital agency iStrategy Labs. A Web camera and facial-recognition software are hidden behind the two-way mirror, along with LED lights that provide a countdown and simulate a flash, and are triggered when guests stand in front of the mirror and smile. The photo is then instantly posted to Twitter with a watermark or logo.  Though it is not available for rental, the invention can be custom-built for companies to own, and pricing ranges from $35,000 to $50,000.

Foxtales invites event guests to step into a so-called “storybooth” that creates branded photos and HD videos. In addition to a customizable touch-screen interface, the booths have built-in D.S.L.R. cameras and proprietary photo-processing techniques. The pictures and videos populate a mobile-ready storyboard and can be instantly uploaded using Wi-Fi, 4G Internet, or a hard-line connection. Pricing is from $1,500 and includes five hours of run time, the customized storyboard gallery, on-site reps, and post-event analytics.

Doodlebooth is a Chicago-based company that puts a hand-drawn spin on traditional photo booths. Illustrator Jana Kinsman, who has designed custom illustrations for clients such as CB2, sits with guests and quickly sketches their portraits as take-home keepsakes; the images can also be scanned into online albums that guests can digitally share. Pricing is $650 for three hours, and there’s no extra cost for transportation to events in Chicago and nearby Evanston and Oak Park. Kinsman will travel to events throughout the country for an additional fee.