Luxury-wedding business summit Engage! held its 24th event June 18 to 21 at Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta, Canada. The Great White North Gala, which was held in the Van Horne Ballroom on the final night, featured a white-and-metallic winter wonderland theme with illuminated laser-cut paper centerpieces and menus designed and produced by Vanessa Kreckel of TPD Design House. Calgary-based Modern Luxe Rentals provided the tabletop rentals and chairs and Flower Artistry handled the florals, which were sourced from the region.
Grey Goose held a French Riviera-theme pop-up event series in four Canadian cities from June 21 to 30. Pop-up markets in Toronto (pictured) and Montreal featured step-and-repeats with name of the event in white letters, surrounded by an installation of hanging blue and white striped umbrellas. The installation was inspired by the brand's Riviera bottle series, in partnership with artist Quentin Monge. Pomp & Circumstance and Community Agency produced the events.
The event showcased topiary of the vodka brand's signature goose.
During a portion of the World Cup in Moscow, which ends on Sunday, Budweiser activated a double-decker Bud Boat. The boat floated on the Moskva River and offered fans access to food, entertainment, viewing screens, a barcuzzi (a Jacuzzi with a bar), and special events.
Visa, the official payment services provider of FIFA, had two lounges at the Moscow Marriott Hotel Novy Arbat and the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow for the World Cup. To highlight Russian culture, a dedicated space within the lounge area was decked out with traditional Russian wares and accessories, and during the afternoon Russian fare and delicacies such as vodka, caviar, and wine, were served. Lounge design and production was handled by Shiraz Creative.
In early June, Louis Vuitton opened up a pop-up store in the Miami Design District dedicated to its official World Cup collection. The store welcomes guests with a hexagonal structure that resembles the World Cup ball includes a reflective interior surface for snapping selfies.
The ninth edition of the online-video convention took place June 20 to 23 at the Anaheim Convention Center. To celebrate the original MTV Cribs franchise but add a modern, D.I.Y. twist, MTV tapped creative agency MKG to design an eye-catching, interactive booth built for social media. The space was designed to resemble a house, with a kitchen, a living room, and a second floor that offered a unique view of the convention center. Rock Steady contributed scenic design to the booth.
Facebook’s consumer booth featured a series of rooms where fans could pose with on-theme backdrops and props. One photo booth featured the brand’s signature blue and thumps-up icon, while others had 3-D emojis.
Twitter worked with Los Angeles-based event agency The Say OK for its lounge, which featured multiple rooms designed in monochromatic colors. The green area, which also included branding for influencer network Niche, featured a rounded entrance lit with neon. A series of Twitter and Niche icons formed on-theme decor on the wall. Each colorful room featured props, furniture, carpets, and pillows that matched the color scheme.
Tinsel Experiential Design partnered with Comparti Catering and Ceci New York to host a dinner for event planners and media at the Altman Building in New York in June. The event showcased a 1991 Jaguar, owned by Comparti Catering co-founder Mac Osborne. The car was filled with tree peonies, lisianthus, garden roses, and quicksand roses.
For a recent event at the Perot Museum of Science and Nature in Dallas, Wolfgang Puck Catering employed a "chef shadowbox." Meant to provide a strong visual behind a more standard food station, a chef in a shadowbox prepared appetizers as guests looked on.
Other new stations at Wolfgang Puck Catering include a frozen sushi station. The activation displays fresh fish and sushi rolls atop illuminated ice blocks with frozen orchids and other flowers inside.
In Chicago, Blue Plate Catering brings candy apple stations to holiday parties. Treats include apples dipped in caramel and assorted toppings and sliced up into snack-size portions.
The catering firm also has a new burrata action station. Staffers top the creamy cheese with toasted pine nuts and Italian muscat syrup. The snack is gluten-free.
Toronto catering firm Eatertainment has a new chef action station devoted to salmon gravlax. Salmon is hung from hooks above the station and is sliced to order in front of guests. The raw fish is then chopped and served with root-vegetable crisps, miniature greens, and spiced yogurt.
The Toronto firm is also using bar carts to display food items. One such spread, wheeled to tables at an event, offered snacks such as frittatas, foie gras, sliders, and lobster.
In Chicago, catering firm Limelight has an innovative format for serving fruit skewers. The fruits are inserted into a custom wall with thematic wallpaper design (which varies for different events). Guests approach the wall and pull of a skewer and can dip the fruit in sauces that are arrayed on a nearby table.
Instead of serving French fries at a stationary table, Limelight has used a wheelbarrow to deliver Belgian frites at events. The fries are served in cones, and assorted sauces are displayed on the side.
Limelight's "Smash It" station offers assorted homemade chocolate bark in flavors such as dark chocolate with dried cherries. Mallets next to the sweets let guests "smash" off a snack-size piece of the bark.
Roar Events produced a summertime event at Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa in Southern California. The dinner had a modern Mexican theme and featured an interactive margarita station. Guests chose the type and flavor of their tequila, as well as one of many specialty salts.
Tim Hortons hosted a pajama party and movie screening for media and influencers on August 2 at the screening room at Thompson Toronto hotel. Guests were given branded robes to wear, while they indulged in the Canadian fast food company’s breakfast offerings and custom coffee cocktails served in Tim Hortons cups. The event was planned and executed by NKPR and the custom robes were designed by Plan-It Promotions.
For part of its new marketing campaign, confectionary brand Black Forest activated a giant fabricated tree that rained gummy bears. Woven baskets were filled with gummy bears, and brand ambassadors were on site to shake more from the tree. The activation, which took place August 2 and 3 on the High Line in New York, was produced by Mission.
Lollapalooza music festival took place August 2 to 5 at Chicago’s Grant Park. Behind the BMI stage, festivalgoers could add their mark to a mural with a little help from Art of Everyone. The organization used an "artist conductor" to verbally guide guests through painting or drawing using a laser pointer.
Tito’s hosted the Love, Tito’s experience to showcase the efforts of its charitable initiative. Highlighting Chicago-based charity Bunker Labs, the activation taught guests about the local nonprofit; it also served as a digital time capsule that invited guests to make a video pledge to initiate positive change in the world. The videos will be emailed to festivalgoers a year later.
Facebook-owned virtual-reality company Oculus hosted an “omakase”-style dinner July 31 at the Public Hotel in New York. Guests were invited to wear Oculus Go headsets to view six experiences that were each paired with a different course and cocktail. The Fox Sports VR course featured Meyer lemon gelee, creme fraiche, and caviar paired with the "Ocu-lade" cocktail, which consisted of habanero-infused tequila, mezcal, dried prickly ash, and lime. The cocktail was served in a plastic pouch. The menu was curated by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and cocktails were crafted by Los Angeles-based creative shop Happy Hour Agency.
To celebrate the launch of the new Farmacy Kitchen Cookbook, a book focused on plant-based eating and conscious living, author Camilla Fayed, stylist Elizabeth Saltzman, and Juicy Couture creative director Jamie Mizrahi co-hosted an event in July at the Schoos Design studio in West Hollywood. Event producer Cathy James, owner of the James Group, used vegetables as decor for the event. Bunches of asparagus, artichoke, carrots, and more formed centerpieces on the tables.
Amber Kemp-Gerstel, the founder and creative director of D.I.Y. lifestyle blog Damask Love, held a viewing party to celebrate her debut on NBC’s crafting competition series Making It on July 31 at the Miami Ad School. The event, which was sponsored by fabric and craft retailer Joann, featured a rainbow-hued craft installation created by the Creative Heart Studio. Kemp-Gerstel posed with an oversize tape prop that displayed the social media handle of her blog.
The viewing party had a number of D.I.Y. stations, including a make-your-own cupcake bar. Ingredients were provided by Bunnie Cakes.
To promote the 30th anniversary of Shark Week, Discovery Channel worked with BCXP to create art installations of sharks made from upcycled and recyclable materials that are often found washed ashore on beaches. The installations, which were displayed on the Santa Monica Pier July 21 and 22, included a great white shark constructed from reclaimed driftwood and lumber; guests were encouraged to pose for photos inside the shark's mouth.
A hammerhead shark was constructed from corrugated cardboard from supermarkets.
