Cool serving stations

"In 2013, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago had a winter gala with an industrial/warehouse theme. Jewell Events Catering brought in several inventive food stations that matched the theme, but the one that I remember best is a soup station with servers ladling chili and butternut squash soup out of trash cans—clean ones, of course." —Jenny Berg, senior editor

"The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles gala is known for its envelope-pushing details. And for 2013’s marijuana-theme bash, those details included some pretty wacky catering: A so-called '4/20 buffet' was meant to evoke the kind of food a stoner with the munchies would scarf down in bulk: Chinese food, hot dogs, mac 'n' cheese, pizza, and junk food like Cheetos and Doritos." —Alice Dubin, West Coast editor

"For sheer exoticism, Dos Equis wins with its Bazaar Noir event staged in Miami in August 2013. The menu consisted of daring fare you won't see at most events: shark tamales, frog wontons with shrimp and sweet-and-sour eel sauce, and chocolate-covered scorpions, crickets, and worms." —Beth Kormanik, news editor

"By far one of the coolest catering concepts I've experienced was for TEDMed's 2013 conference dinner at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. United Kingdom company Gastrophonic worked with Occasions Caterers to design multiple flights of food and drink that combined the taste and smell of the small plates with your senses of sight and sound through lighting and music. As the music got bolder, the combinations of flavors in the food and drinks did too. With the food all placed on shelves at illuminated stations, it was an amazing, full-sensory experience." —D. Channing Muller, contributing editor

"It's got to be the popcorn at MKG's summer party this year. The Pee-wee's Playhouse-inspired event had a lot of weird things going on—including a bar that could only be reached by wading through a ball pit. But the station where guests could top their popcorn with butter pumped from lotion bottles may have been the wackiest. As odd as it was, most people were pretty game." —Anna Sekula, editor in chief

On September 7, Entertainment One hosted its "eOne Blue Carpet" bash for 1,500 guests. Held at Moss Park Armoury, the event was awash in the brand's signature blue hue. Jeffry Roick of McNabb Roick Events handled decor.

"Not only is all of our decor rented, which is pretty simple for everyone to do, but a lot of the pieces this year were made from reclaimed wood," said Fox Creative Services' Karin Pofsky. "It's about extending the life of decor or elements to be turned into something different in our events."

The Bungalow's parking lot was converted into a casino using rented Astroturf flooring from Classic Party Rentals, which plans to reuse the material for additional events.