#12 Music Event
This year, the black-tie event included a pre-concert sparkling wine hour, three separate dinners, and performances from Bonnie Raitt, Yuja Wang, and the San Francisco Symphony. A glamorous after-party welcomed all 2,700 concertgoers. Next: September 2015
The 20th annual InterContinental Miami Make-A-Wish Ball was held November 1 at the downtown hotel and had a Wizard of Oz theme. Guests entered the main ballroom for dinner through an arched tunnel with 180-degree projection mapping and sound to evoke a tornado. Deco Productions designed and produced the event.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Starlight Express inspired the theme of the 2008 gala benefit for the Children's Place Association. To separate the reception from the dinner area, Joseph Leigh Designs hung fabric panels from the ceiling of Union Station.
In 2006, the gala had an English garden look that tied to the Met's "AngloMania" exhibit of Britain's posh and punk fashion. Event designer David Monn set up 70 tables in separate mini gardens that were hedged by 400 feet of apple trees. The floors were swathed in carpets of spring grass.
As part of Dr. Martens’s Stand for Something campaign during SXSW music, the shoe brand let attendees complete the phrase “I Stand For” on free T-shirts.
The TED Conference officially wrapped last Friday, drawing about 1,300 attendees from 46 countries for the event’s signature 18-minute talks at the main program at the Vancouver Convention Centre. After getting sneak peaks of the day’s talks, visual artist Derek Cascio worked overnight to draw massive black and white murals of those themes onto the walls of the convention center with a dry-erase tool known as IdeaPaint. Then attendees added their own layers as the sessions got underway.
Chicago Dine Around’s progressive dining option for private groups gives out-of-towners the chance to experience an interactive city tour aboard a luxury coach bus while en route to visit three different restaurants: one for appetizers, one for the main course, and one for dessert. Tour guides encourage interaction by quizzing attendees on Chicago trivia during the three-hour event, and there’s also the option to end with a post-meal show at a local theater. The private tour is available for as many as 450 guests; packages start from $65 per person.
In Chicago, catering firm Limelight has an innovative format for serving fruit skewers. The fruits are inserted into a custom wall with thematic wallpaper design (which varies for different events). Guests approach the wall and pull of a skewer and can dip the fruit in sauces that are arrayed on a nearby table.
After dinner at the Unicef Hope Gala, which was held April 9 at the Geraghty in Chicago, guests hit the dance floor under a canopy of neon Slinkies as the Ken Arlen Evolution Orchestra played.
Tampa, Florida-based event planner ShoWorks created a winter wonderland based on the Disney hit Frozen for the black-tie gala, which was held May 21 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. A large icicle-like chandelier that was hung from the truss framework above the dining space added to the icy atmosphere.
The annual black-tie event was held at Morgan Manufacturing in Chicago’s Fulton Market district on April 16. The James Bond-theme night featured Bond girls, casino-style games, and a sit-down dinner with clever dishes like the Lady Luck Salad with “dice”—watermelon cubed, fontina wrapped in salmon, and cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto.
At this year’s gala, which was held May 9 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, guests entered by walking through an oversize keyhole, a visualization of the evening's theme of "Unlock the Future." The keyholes then gave way to a series of large neon-painted unlocked doors that continued throughout the cocktail space.
