Cool Ideas

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.

In Los Angeles last May, nearly 300 artists and art patrons celebrated the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s 25th anniversary at the museum's second annual Precognito gala dinner. Table numbers were painted directly onto the white paper tablecloths.

For a wedding produced by AaB Creates at the Altman Building in 2012, the table numbers popped out of the pages of open books. The numbers were carved out of the books' pages using an X-Acto knife.

Table numbers were printed on mock pieces of matzo.

It's no secret that guests want to photograph themselves—and their friends—for their social media profiles. So if you put your message right in their field of view, you'll capture their attention—and social media impressions. At Prive Salon in Los Angeles for the Colgate Optic White beauty bar ahead of the Golden Globes, handles and hashtags decked mirrors.

A 20-foot-long interactive wall of letters in the lobby gave guests an opportunity to create words.

At Gensler and Herman Miller's vignette, the dining table was surrounded by walls covered in thousands of Hershey's Kisses wrapped in purple foil. Attendees were invited to take one as a symbol of the "many hands it takes to spark positive change."

To highlight the event's focus on children and fund-raising for a charter school, the 2006 Robin Hood Foundation gala had giant chalkboards in the reception area set up in New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. David Stark sketched local landmarks and iconic scenes on the walls, and, during the event, guests could add their own designs with chalk provided in bowls on the cocktail tables.

The American Express name appeared on the top and bottom of the flip-flops given to each guest.