Centerpieces were illuminated lamps with text from the play.
Photo: Kyle Flubacker
Use unique structural containers to show off a few impactful blooms for a modern, artistic look, like the creation by Blueprint Studios that features butter yellow calla lilies and Billy Ball flowers.
Photo: Michelle Nicole Photography
Found objects don’t always have to be from nature. For this year’s AMC upfront after-party, Empire Entertainment used classic ’80s artifacts—floppy disks and cassette tapes—to construct lighted lamps in lieu of high-end floral centerpieces.
Photo: Rick Gilbert
The 13th annual Friends of the High Line benefit, held at New York’s Pier 57 in May, centered on photographs of the High Line taken through the years. In lieu of the event’s usual foliage-heavy centerpieces, printed photographs were scattered atop raised Lucite platforms, which were eventually also used to hold the night's family-style dinner platters.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
At the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's Butterfly Ball in Chicago in May, the gala had a farm-like atmosphere. Tables were decked with miniature gardens potted with tomatoes, colorful peppers, asparagus, and kale; around the centerpieces, fairy lights in miniature Mason jars added to the elegant yard-party vibe.
Photo: Steve Becker/beckermedia.com
Fifteen fashion and interior designers each designed their own table at the Partnership With Children’s Gala in April. Interior design firm Paul and Martha L.L.C. created an attention-grabbing tabletop by using a $90,000 sculpture of pink roses as a centerpiece. Created by artist Will Ryman, the oversize flowers were made of materials including plaster, paint, and aluminum mesh.
Photo: Andrew Fitzsimons/PatrickMcMullan.com
The Starlight Children's Foundation hosted its Starlight Gala, sponsored by Toys "R" Us, at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel in April. The event’s circus-inspired ideas included dinner tables topped with miniature Ferris wheels that held cupcakes with colorful frosting.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Centerpieces were appropriately made of glowing, vintage photo slides at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Snap Gala in October, which benefitted the Photography Gala Fund.
Photo: Julia Stotz
Centerpieces at the Whitney Museum of American Art gala, held in October, encouraged playful interaction, featuring silver paint cans holding breadsticks and also Sharpie markers that guests could use to draw on the canvas tablecloths.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Russell Simmons’s Art for Life benefit, held in the Hamptons in July, featured an idyllic theme—“Field of Dreams”—that came to life in the whimsical centerpieces. Floating kites suspended over each table and anchored to wheatgrass flats had colorful signs on their tails that held the names of artistic vocations such as “dancer” and “poet.”
Photo: Johnny Nunez
At the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design benefit in New York in 2012, David Stark's installation for Benjamin Moore used real books and hand-made pop-up books to highlight the concept behind the brand's slogan: “A whole new chapter in paint color technology is being written.”
Photo: Ronnie Andren for BizBash
For an event for Munchkin baby products in Los Angeles in November, Jeannie Savage of Details Details used toys on the tabletops to "evoke childhood memories," she said, for the bloggers, event planners, and influential mom guests in attendance.
Photo: Jessica Claire
The Garden District provided florals, linens, and other decor for the fund-raiser.
Photo: Courtesy of Windows Catering Company
After the large-group sessions, attendees could take part in marketing boot camps, networking events, or golf or spa excursions.
Photo: Lila Photo
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.
Photo: Yvonne Wong
Headdress Ball
For the 2016 Headdress Ball, which was held in September at the Orlando World Center Marriott, the Hope and Help Center selected “Love” as the theme. It included a pre-party dubbed the “Love Lounge,” which was filled with red lighting and decor and logo gobos on the walls, while chocolate-heart centerpieces decorated the tables in the ballroom. The event is the largest annual fund-raiser for the nonprofit, which provides support and services for people infected with and affected by H.I.V./AIDS around Central Florida.
Photo: Kayla Hernandez for BizBash
HMR Designs extended miles of ribbons from 125 points on the ceiling. As guests moved around the room, the angles intersected to create interesting, dynamic visuals.
Photo: Francis Son
