Cheryl Cecchetto of Sequoia Productions executed the “romantic rhapsody in red” theme at the 2012 Emmys Governors Ball in Los Angeles with a giant rose concept and copious amounts of the color.
The 2012 Pencer Brain Trust Gala in Toronto used flamboyant orange hues to support its edgy, rock theme.
Held at the United States Institute of Peace, the event's theme was "Great Storytelling." As a canopy over the main hall, an installation of paper sculptures with die-cut letters spelled out "Story to Screen."
Two illustration artists sketched imagery from popular YouTube channels and Netflix original content, which was then projected onto the building's wall of windows.
The red and blue logos for BuzzFeed and Facebook, respectively, worked well in a political context at their Bow Ties & Burgers. Both logos were splashed along a banner that wrapped around the Jack Rose Dining Saloon. The signage also included the event's hashtag.
Syzygy created two versions of metal café tables, one covered in British slang and the other with American slang.
At a reception held before the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Dufour & Company created a garden party atmosphere in a meeting room at the Washington Hilton. The seating areas included pillows in the media company's orange hue.
Dufour & Company produced the event, which included dramatic overhead draping that brought the ceiling height down. The sheer white drapes changed with lighting from Atmosphere Lighting. Design Foundry fabricated the decor.
The Bloomberg and Vanity Fair after-party on Saturday moved venues this year to Villa Firenze, home of the Italian ambassador. Decals from both publications decorated clear café tables.
Covers of Time and People magazines flanked the bar backdrop, which was covered in boxwood. The Friday-night event was held at the St. Regis and designed by Syzygy.
This year's Robin Hood Foundation Benefit was held Monday at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. To help guide guests to their tables in the vast dining space, David Stark Design & Production created large numbers hung from the ceiling indicating the section for tables starting with that number.
At a press event in New York on April 29, Sprint found an eye-catching way to put audio in the spotlight. The telecommunications company wrapped the interior and exterior of the venue, Espace, with colorful images that mimicked sound wave patterns.
Inside the raw space, the creative and production team—which included DePalma Production and Syzygy Events International—crafted a sensory environment modeled after outdoor movie screenings. That included park benches and colorful beach chairs for seating, Astroturf carpeting, and surrounding screens that displayed images of trees.
At the May 29 opening of Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place in New York, Shiraz Events created a step-and-repeat using stacked crates of fresh vegetables.
At the chocolate brand's New York event in September, a custom tasting table from Abel McCallister Designs seated 16 guests. The table, which continued up the wall, featured artfully arranged truffles along with fresh fruit, nuts, and spices, all set in a bed of melted chocolate.
In Washington, Evoke has designed doughnut walls for clients. The wall was constructed out of pegboard, with 1,200 wooden golf tees showcasing chocolate-glazed doughnuts (forming a “J” for the guest of honor’s name) as well as cinnamon sugar and powdered white donuts. A server with a step stool can pull doughnuts off the wall for guests.
The speaker stage featured a woodsy curtain backdrop, leather seating, and a pop of hot pink flowers.
The May 13 fund-raiser took place at New York's Plaza Hotel, and the college wanted the centerpieces to make a big splash. Accordingly, Patt Glenn Productions created paper daffodils that ranged from three to six feet tall. The springy works were auctioned off after the benefit, and proceeds went toward cancer research.
At the March 29 gala, the Boston Ballet celebrated its 50th anniversary with a ball at the Castle at Park Plaza. To mark the occasion, appetizers were passed on trays that said "50 Years." Items included tuna and mango cubes with pickled-ginger glaze.
At the April 10 fund-raiser at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Jewell Events Catering created custom carts to hold its hors d'oeuvres. Snacks included bite-sized terrines of beets and goat cheese and button mushrooms stuffed with herbed Boursin, garlic, truffle oil, and micro-greens.
On May 21, the fund-raiser for the children's chorus was held at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. In the past, members of the chorus hand-wrote thank-you notes for the guests, but this year featured a twist: The young singers recorded their thank-you messages onto videos that were loaded onto iPads and placed at each table.
On June 24, Saveur hosted its Summer BBQ at the Boat Basin Cafe in New York. Previewing some highlights of the annual culinary affair, the event had a staircase decked with words such as "cocktails," "sweets," and "music."
At a Toronto event hosted by fashion brand Bustle in 2009, organizers lit the stairs leading to the upper patio of Ultra in pink and screened an avant-garde video on the wall halfway up the staircase.
Carasco Photography hosted “Brides, Bubbles, and Bliss” at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago in 2013. The event had "bubbles" in its title for a reason. Not only were there plenty of Veuve Clicquot champagne bars in the Skyline Loft, but there was also an illuminated bar in the venue's spacious elevators. Guests sipped on flutes of the sparkly drink on their way up to the event.
At a Museum of Contemporary Art benefit in Chicago in 2009, guests entered the arty party through the museum's loading dock. The space was covered with bubble wrap, which guests were encouraged to jump on and pop.
One of the twists at Smirnoff's 2001 Twistotica product launch event in New York was that the men's and women's restrooms were switched. So the planning team at EventQuest put flowers in the urinals of the new women's bathroom.
