In The Martian, Damon survives on rations, but organizers don't have to be limited to freeze-dried astronaut food. Love Catering crafted unique dishes, including wild salmon tartare, quail egg, horseradish emulsion, dill, and potato gaufrette in an anchovy tin, for the launch party of Just One Eye's Ulysses Tier 1 disaster relief kit in December 2014 in Los Angeles. Guests were given a stainless steel mini tool and told it was "essential to their survival" so they could eat different appetizers with it.
Space-theme video games are one way to get guests into the mood. At a March 2015 reception for clients and partners at Washington's Carnegie Library, space technology firm SpaceX invited guests to play Space Invaders and projected the screen onto the walls of the venue.
As Wall Street is the central focus of the movie, money is a simple way to represent The Big Short in decor. For instance, the Chicago launch party for Absolut Mango vodka in 2009 was inspired by the fruit itself (it's a Hindi symbol of love, prosperity, and fertility) and a money tree draped with real and fake dollar bills was designed to represent prosperity.
Another way to incorporate money as a visual is to use throw pillows designed to look like stuffed money bags, which is what Cash Money Records did for its 2011 pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles.
Burnt-out cars and trucks with plants spilling out of them fit the post-apocalyptic vibe of the opening party for Toronto's Luminato Festival, which took place at the Hearn Generating Station in June 2015.
If burnt-out vehicles aren't at hand, the juxtaposition of live foliage and industrial architecture can create a post-apocalyptic feels, just as it did for the Luminato Festival's opening party.
For electric-utility company ComEd's ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception on February 19 for its Chicago training center, catering firm Entertaining Company put a thematic spin on beverages with pomegranate-flavored "Electric Lemonade." The drinks were served in food-safe, lightbulb-shaped vessels on light-up trays branded with the company's logo.
