event

To evoke the feeling of a currency exchange when traveling abroad, organizers invited guests to purchase colorful "Z dollars," pretend money that they could use to make donations throughout the night.

Antique keys hung on a wall at the hotel station. As guests made a contribution to purchase housing for Zebra Coalition clients, staff would remove a key from the wall and place it in a jar.

Donations made to the living statues would prompt them to strike a new pose.

For a donation guests could hear predictions from a fortune-teller.

At the bus station, guests could make a donation to provide transportation services to Zebra Coalition clients.

In the café, staff marked each $10 donation for food by placing a set of utensils in a bowl.

Flamenco dancers entertained guests at the event.

The models almost completely blended in with the custom-painted backdrops.

At an event for the Knot, held at the New York Public Library in October 2014, executive chef Robin Selden of Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning hung small crystal orbs filled with two types of salad—a fruit and kale one with shaved coconut and a wheatberry salad with mushrooms, caramelized shallots, and roasted fennel—from a tree.

The wall served as a decor piece—and unofficial photo backdrop—at the V.I.P. reception.

Guests could release their balloons into a giant Jerry can-shaped netting structure. The concept was designed to allow people to visualize their donations in a whimsical way.

Dinner took place in the State ballroom. At the front of the space, a large drop-down screen played a tribute video that showcased the work of the women's board.

Tied up with a silky white ribbon, a commemorative program contained a written history of the women's board and a list of past event chairs.

LMac Events put extra effort into the look of the silent auction display, which included a table of cookware items donated by Victorinox, Le Creuset, Wüsthof, Anolon Nouvelle, and Mario Batali by Dansk. On the mezzanine, Joelle & the Pinehurst Trio played live jazz tunes.

Lots were divided into sections, labeled with chalkboard signage. Sections included Home & Family, Travel and Hotel, Fashion and Jewelry, Sports, and more.

Event planners grouped silent auction items into themes such as "Gentleman's Corner."

"Getaways" was another theme for the silent auction lots.

Dessert was raspberry mascarpone mousse cake with a raspberry sauce and fresh berries adorned with a branded white-chocolate disk.

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.

Purple lighting, gold details, and tablecloths in rich eggplant and lavender matched the dinner's elegant setting in the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

For the February launch of designer Tarina Tarantino's beauty line, Jes Gordon Proper Fun dressed up a wall with images of mannequin heads and logos in a frame.