Branded hand-rolled cigars from Cigar Stud Events were among the treats for guests at the the grand opening of the Miami Beach location of Puma Lab Powered by Foot Locker. The event, planned by Cluxe Brand Management, took place at Skydeck Miami on July 23.
Ballet Hispanico's 2015 Spring Gala honored Cuban civic leaders. The event, which had a theme of “Noche Cubana,” took place in March at the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom in New York and featured performances by the Ballet Hispanico Company as well as other entertainers.
At the Phillips Collection’s annual gala in 2012, the Washington Art Museum chose “Havana Nights” as the theme of its after-party to honor the Havana Arts Biennial. A 1959 Chrysler parked outside the Anderson House as well as palm tree projections set the tone at the entrance. In the back lawn, a cigar roller and salsa and meringue music from the Latin band Sin Miedo continued the theme.
Food and beverage from Occasions Caterers at the gala included buffets of Cuban-inspired cocktails served in coconut glasses, as well as savory and sweet items like plantain chips, ceviche, empanadas, and coffee parfaits.
Cuban cigar boxes served as charming containers for flower arrangements at an “Old Havana”-theme welcome party that the New Orleans Saints hosted before Super Bowl XLIV in Miami in 2010. The event took place at the InterContinental Miami Hotel.
To build buzz before the opening of a new Ikea store in Miami in 2014, the furniture and home goods retailer engaged customers with a mobile tour that stopped in five local neighborhoods. At a stop in Little Havana, the activation set up an area for playing dominoes, complete with Ikea-branded tiles.
Colorful bongos decorated a bar front at an alfresco cocktail party for the international consulting firm FICO, which held its 2010 world conference in Miami.
“Hemingway’s Cuba” was the theme of the 2005 New York Public Library’s Young Lions Benefit, chosen because of the library’s extensive collection of works by Ernest Hemingway. Staff offered guests hats, woven fans, faux orchid boutonnieres, and cigars to help them embody the theme.
The 2011 Ravinia Gala in Chicago celebrated the music of George Gershwin through a concert, but also through catering. The first course from Food for Thought Chicago, called the "Cuban Overture" after the Gershwin song, was shrimp ceviche with mango-jĂcama salad.
With a base of El Dorado three-year rum, the Old Cuban cocktail evokes a Caribbean feel. The beverage, available at new Washington cocktail bar the Speak, mixes in lime juice, prosecco, simple syrup, Angostura bitters, and mint leaves. The Speak opened in May.
The Boston institution hosted its opening night gala in late September. The decor was loosely inspired by the symphony's Shakespeare-related programming this season, and a dinner table was laid out in a way that mimicked the shape of an English garden.
At its 2012 Modern Ball, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art paid homage to the artist Picasso. Inspired by some of the painter's imagery, decor from Stanlee Gatti included centerpieces meant to resemble Cubist guitars.
At its 2014 fall fashion event in Los Angeles, Macy's erected a step-and-repeat that featured albums from the '70s and '80s, as well as suspended records. The entrance underscored the event's overarching rock 'n' roll theme.
Event staffers passed out guitar-shaped cookies as favors at the ballet's 2011 gala at Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington. The dessert played off the evening's rock-inspired decor from Syzygy Event Productions.
At the TV channel's 2010 music fest in Brooklyn, Ultimate Lighting provided thematic gobos of the event logo and musical notes for the tent ceiling.
In 2013, Macklemore's hit song “Thrift Shop” was topping charts. When investment banking company Roth Capital Partners held its 25th annual Orange County conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, it brought the rapper for headline entertainment. Elite Productions International played up the performance with an overall thrift-store theme. Mismatched pillows and seating groups contributed pops of color—and a thrift-store vibe— throughout.
In 2014, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's annual benefit was dubbed “A Celebration of John Williams: Opening Night Gala Concert.” Inside the dinner tent, Shiraz Events' decor included blown-up replicas of Williams's score for “Soundings.”
Piano prodigy Lang Lang headlined the Ravinia Festival's Benefit Gala in Chicago in 2013, and Jewell Events Catering prepared a thematic feast. For dessert, a chocolate piano was filled with passion-fruit mousse, then set on a starburst-shaped display of sauces.
In 2013, the Boston Lyric Opera hosted its annual gala on October 4. The evening included a performance of The Magic Flute that was set in the Mayan ruins of Mexico. Dancers from the Touch Performance Art Group escorted guests between the two venues, and some dancers dressed in Aztec-inspired costumes.
In 2013, The Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 25th anniversary with a masquerade ball at the New York Public Library. Inside, a projected image of the Phantom mask illuminated drapes. Low lighting in red and blue hues added to the eerie, almost ethereal look.
At a screening of the James Brown biopic Get on Up in Washington in 2014, André Wells incorporated such objects as old-school-style microphones and records into floral centerpieces to channel the movie’s musical premise.
