Inspiration Ideas

The American Cancer Society’s Discovery Ball in 2013 in Chicago was dubbed “Passport to Discovery” and had a time-travel theme. As a nod to the nonprofit’s 100-year past, as well as its present and future, the fund-raiser drew inspiration from an old-fashioned train station, with props and decor including suitcases, trunks, and old street lamps. The registration desk was decorated to resemble a ticket counter.

AT&T’s Best of Washington event hosted by Washingtonian magazine in 2013 had staffers dressed in vintage airline stewardess uniforms lining the main entrance, directing guests inside as air traffic controllers might direct planes.

Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS’s Dining by Design event in Chicago in November included multiple tables with travel themes. One, designed by Gunlocke/HBF, had miniature hot-air balloons soaring above it, as well as a globe, clocks, and maps as decoration.

For a wedding at Union Station in Los Angeles, Sterling Engagements displayed escort cards printed to look like train tickets inside vintage suitcases.