Summer ideas

Last year, Hermès threw a beachside bash known as “Les Jeux d’Hermès,” or Hermès games, with oversize jewelry installations, models on trampolines, and a branded ringtoss. Balloons wrapped in Hermès silk scarf prints stood at the entrance.

To disguise the concrete barricade, Hermès added mirrors to the entire stretch of a lower beach wall, reflecting the activities and sights on the sand.

A seven-foot sandcastle heralded the start of a major residential construction project in Miami last year. Aria Development Group celebrated the groundbreaking of its luxury condominium, 321 Ocean, with a ceremony for city officials, buyers, and friends and family. Guests gathered around the sandcastle—a whimsical replica of the forthcoming property—for a toast, then headed to nearby restaurant Estiatorio Milos for a reception.

In 2009, Mattel celebrated Barbie's 50th anniversary with a bash for 200 in Los Angeles. Playing off the Malibu Dream House toy—a coveted accessory for the iconic doll—organizers picked a real-life beach house on Pacific Coast Highway and went wild with full-size incarnations of the doll's tiny treasures and pleasures. With the beach as a backdrop, guests picked up signature drinks such as Barbie Doll-icious, Ken's Caiprirosca, Strawberry Blonde, and It's a Pink Thing from an alfresco bar.

For the Louis Vuitton Charlotte Perriand V.I.P. dinner during Art Basel last year, the luxury brand set up an alfresco table right on the beach. The event had a chic, minimalist look with glowing orbs hanging overhead.

At Cosmopolitan en Español’s beach bash at Nikki Beach last June, burlap gift bags stocked with fashion and beauty products had the feel of a beach-day carryall.

The 2008 launch of Wonderwall, surfer Laird Hamilton's surf and skate apparel collection with Steve & Barry's stores, was held at L.A.'s Paradise Cove beach, where a white picket fence on the technically public beach contained the intimate event.

Marie Aiello Design Studio’s elegant Great Gatsby picnic spread included fresh flower arrangements, a tiered display of cookies, 1920s-style accessories, and a façade of the yellow 1929 Duesenberg Leonardo DiCaprio drives in Baz Luhrmann’s movie.

The guests seated at We Create NY and Input Creative Studio’s golf-theme picnic setting had the option of playing a quick round of putt-putt.

SLS Interior Design went with an urban theme that included a graffitied picnic blanket, skateboard-style mobile dining trays, and kitschy Solo cup wine glasses.

Clark Gaynor Interiors packed its picnic inside a small wine casket and made use of eye-popping color with a floral-patterned blue-and-green picnic blanket.

Alicja Truesdale Home went simple, with pops of red against a rustic palette of browns.

Michigan-based interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins opted for a Motown theme, featuring a suitcase decorated with photos of music legends and a trippy-looking neon-colored blanket.

Graphic design firm Alfalfa Studio looked to the event’s location for inspiration: Toy taxi cabs accented a colorful picnic blanket that displayed an outline of Manhattan created from iconic city imagery, and a construction-worker-style lunchbox functioned as the picnic basket.

Carrie Leskowitz Interiors made use of textures and patterns with a picnic spread inspired by the mountain town of Aspen, Colorado. Kravet and Ralph Lauren donated the fabrics used for the blanket, place mats, and to line the vintage suitcase.

A cluster of hanging beach balls created a whimsical, colorful chandelier at a party created by Swank Productions. Adding to the look were tables covered in bright, summery linens.

This past summer, Chicago's Moto Restaurant created a new dessert inspired by the season: coconut macarons painted to look like beach balls. Chocolate seashells, pineapple starfish, and brown sugar sand completed the plate.

One of the more striking food presentations at L.A. Center Studios for the Lexus grand tasting during Los Angeles Food & Wine festival last year, was created by Post Ranch Inn. The Big Sur resort used sugar as sand in a metal bucket where it served shaved ice cones. Starfish and greenery decked the beach-like scene.

In 2013, Hermès hosted its whimsical “Les Jeux d’Hermès,” or Hermès games, in Palm Beach, where an area within the tented party space was transformed into a croquet field with eye-catching chandelier, colorful flags, and cabana seating decked with the brand's iconic silk scarves.

On March 16, the French brand threw a beachside bash in Palm Beach as part of Hermès's "Les Jeux d’Hermès," or Hermès games, initiative. As part of the decor, event planners situated oversize Hermès enamel bracelets on the beach for an added touch of whimsy. Complementing the bracelets were items such as an orange sorbet cart in Hermès orange, and Hula-Hoops wrapped in Hermès silk scarf prints. Bronson van Wyck produced the event.