Oath hosted hundreds of brand advertisers, agencies, and partners at its NewFront event, which took place May 1 at Pier 26 in New York. The event featured creative catering stations from Pinch Food Design, which included a burrata bar. First events agency produced the event.
Marriott’s biannual sales and marketing conference took place April 29 to May 2 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The conference showcased interactive vignettes inspired by 25 of the hospitality company’s hotel brands, all of which were designed by BMF Media Group. Tribute Portfolio’s “Add Your Own Color” featured a life-size coloring book, inspired by the brand’s colorful aesthetic. The content of the coloring book design offered illustrations and names of Tribute destinations.
One of the primary functions of a name badge is to increase conversations and networking. For the ninth iteration of the Engage! luxury-wedding business summit, held in Las Vegas in 2012, name badges served as an icebreaker: The number of crystal charms on the tag identified how many times the badge-wearer had attended an Engage! conference. Veteran attendees had nine balls, while first-timers had one.
The inaugural Rosé Day L.A. was held on June 9 at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California. Headlined by Moët & Chandon, the Instagram-friendly daylong picnic was designed and produced by Ben Biscotti of 1iota Productions, Tony Schubert of Event Eleven, and hospitality veterans Bobby Rossi, Sylvain Bitton, JT Torregiani, and David Jarret.
Iron Chef Marc Forgione selected gourmet food trucks for the day, and DJs including Zen Freeman and Caroline D’Amore entertained the crowd from a booth constructed of on-theme pink crates.
The team created several Instagram-friendly moments throughout the day to take advantage of the Malibu location. In one area, guests could pose inside of an oversize frame.
Another photo op featured hanging pink and white flowers. Floral Crush Studio provided flowers for the event.
Furniture from FormDecor and rentals from Town and Country added an appropriately pink touch to the outdoor event.
Moët & Chandon’s Rosé Imperial, Grand Vintage Rosé 09, and Ice Imperial Rosé were displayed as decor throughout the event. In addition, Forgione prepared a rosé-inspired menu for an invited group of celebrities and influencers; the Food Matters handled additional catering.
Another stylish seating area was located next to a Moët & Chandon-branded Airstream trailer, which had pink and red florals cascading out of the windows.
Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts is celebrating its French heritage all summer with Au Soleil: a Summer Soirée by Le Méridien. The global event series, which is taking place at the brand’s 100 hotels around the world, offers a Petit Plates menu with light, local fair, plus a soundtrack curated by Nouvelle Vague and backgammon games. Six varieties of rosé spritzers and aperitifs are also on the menu; options include the Campari Lavender Spritz, made with Campari, sparkling rosé, soda water, and lavender syrup.
Another drink on Le Méridien’s summer menu is the Royal Rosé: a mix of bourbon, Lilet Rosé, orange bitters, Peychaud bitters, and rosé champagne.
In May, Kim Crawford Wines hosted a “Sip Into Summer” rosé soiree at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. An elegant gold and black step-and-repeat was adorned with bottles of rosé and a variety of pink flowers.
The event served a variety of rosé-infused cocktails, including the “Rosé and Tonic”: a mix of Kim Crawford rosé, rose water, tonic, and lime. Wine bottles served as a simple—but eye-catching—bar backdrop.
Another creation was rosé sorbet. The team shared the recipe: Bring sugar and water to a boil and allowing it to simmer until the sugar dissolves. Cool and mix in Kim Crawford Rosé, then freeze in a loaf pan. Process in a food processor until its smooth, and then freeze again until it’s firm and ready to serve.
Kim Crawford Wines also celebrated the pink wine at a rosé-theme celebration in June 2017 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Wine bottles served as understated—and on-brand—decor, strung from tree branches.
The ninth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, held in June 2016 in New York, featured a rosé garden that offered guests bottles of Veuve Clicquot Rosé. Starr Catering Group created rosé-theme gourmet lunch boxes, which included kale salad, mini bottles of raspberry vinaigrette, Serrano ham sandwiches, and raspberry almond cakes.
When Toronto-based Eatertainment Special Events & Catering relocated its offices in July 2017, the company threw a summer bash with a rosé-theme room. In addition to featuring five varieties of the wine, all from Provence, France, the space offered a variety of pink macarons and a chandelier made of roses from Bloom Plus.
New York bar and lounge the Skylark is offering a customizable menu dubbed Rosé Your Way. Available on Wednesdays throughout the summer, the menu offers twists on traditional rosé beverages, created by head mixologist Johnny Swet. In the Frosé Your Way option, guests can order rosé mixed with St. Germain, cranberry juice, simple syrup, and lemon wheel, then choose between toppings including rosé gummies, seasonal fruit, or edible flowers.
The Midtown venue is also offering popsicles made with coconut sangria and Whispering Angel rosé.
For its annual conference, which took place in March, MillerCoors partnered with AgencyEA to create an exhibit for 22 beer brands at the Austin Convention Center. The Crispin Rosé hard cider bar displayed bottles of the new cider against a backdrop of greenery with oversize hot pink letters that read "Rosé all day." A pink bar was situated under a giant teepee with pink florals.
WineSociety, a California-based wine producer that launched in April, offers canned wine in rosé, red, and white blends. The 500-ml cans are just shy of a full bottle, making it one of the few canned wine options that isn’t single-serving. The wine can be ordered online, and the packaging is designed to chill fast and be lighter than bottles, making it an appropriate option for outdoor summer events.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation hosted its fourth annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium. The evening event, which raised more than $2.2 million, featured a performance by John Legend and was emceed by Arsenio Hall and George Lopez. International Event Company handled the design and production of the gala, which showcased sponsors on large mirrored spheres that hung above the bar area.
The Washington Ballet hosted its annual spring gala, "Raising the Barre," in Washington in May. The event’s table decor featured a chartreuse and black or gold and black color scheme, which mimicked that of the gala’s invitations. This was the first year the event was held at the Anthem at the Wharf.
Earlier this month, the Apollo Theater celebrated its 13th annual spring gala, which raised more than $2 million for its artistic and community programming initiatives. The event’s after-party was held in a tent designed by event planner David Stark and featured a black-and-white dance floor and video wall.
In March, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County hosted its 12th annual gala, titled "A Celebration of Leadership." The evening featured a cocktail reception, dinner by Le Basque, and a supper club-styled concert.
The foundation’s annual Curve Ball, which took place on the field at Rogers Centre in Toronto this month, featured baseball player-inspired centerpieces created by participants in the Jays Care’s Home Run Scholars program, an after-school program that runs in 24 Toronto community housing sites across the city. Once again, Candice & Alison designed the event, which is the foundation's largest fund-raiser.
The Victorian garden theme of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Gala 2018, which was held earlier this month and produced by MDR Creative, featured lush floral arrangements around the company’s complex on Navy Pier. The event raised $1.6 million for the organization’s classroom and community initiatives.
The Public Art Fund hosted its spring benefit in April at Metropolitan West in New York, honoring the artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei. The ribbon-adorned space, which was created by 360 Design Events, included table settings with clock face placements designed by Los Angeles-based artist Amanda Ross-Ho.
Earlier this month, more than 1,200 guests attended the Hospital for Sick Children's annual Scrubs in the City benefit, which featured a “Roman Holiday” theme, with living statues, aerialists, vintage bicycles, hanging florals, and a Vespa photo station. The event, which was held at the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, raised $820,000.
The Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s 20th annual Butterfly Ball, held in May, raised more than $2.3 million in support of the museum’s science education initiatives. The event decor by the Flower Firm included cobalt blue linens and a stage backdrop with giant cut-out butterflies; the three-course dinner was provided by Calihan Catering.
At the annual benefit, which took place in May, guests first enjoyed cocktails on the High Line at the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and in the Chelsea Market Passage before heading to dinner at two separate locations: Highline Stages and 60 Tenth Ave. in New York. Van Wyck & Van Wyck handled design for both venues. The Highline Stages space featured two columns reimagined to look like dogwood trees with flickering candlelight. The 60 Tenth Ave. venue boasted the “Tree of Life” (pictured), a column that was transformed into a tree dripping with fiber optics that changed colors.
In April, Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada held its 23rd annual gala inside the ballroom at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The event, which featured the theme of “Fly Me to the Moon,” was decorated with starry decor and included activities such as a flavored oxygen bar, an outer space-theme photo booth, and a silent auction.
David Beahm Experiences, in collaboration with decor chair Robin Bell, handled the design of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ 21st annual Bergh Ball, which took place in April at New York’s Plaza Hotel. The event’s theme, “Diamond in the Ruff,” was apparent in the table centerpieces, which included structural representations of dogs with sparkly collars.
Held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington in March, the Leukemia Ball, which was designed by Hargrove, featured the event theme of “Illuminate: Shining the Light on Progress.” This idea was translated through the use of light throughout the design, including the stage and stage chandelier. The event raised $3 million.
The 20th anniversary edition of Power Ball, the annual fund-raiser for the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto, which was held in May at the museum, featured a risqué circus theme with rides and stalls, including an onsite tattoo parlor and a fruit shooting range.
In May, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Mission Creek Gala, which was designed by Gillian Valentine, highlighted four distinct habitats: the Santa Barbara channel, the coastal wetlands, the oak woodlands, and the California wildflowers on Figueroa Mountain. For example, the coastal habitat dining setup featured small tide pools filled with starfish, shells, and other ocean-inspired elements.
For the American Cancer Society’s 12th annual Discovery Ball, which took place in April at the Swissȏtel Chicago and featured the theme of “Impact From Every Angle,” HMR Designs extended miles of ribbons from 125 points on the ceiling. As guests moved around the room, the angles intersected to create dynamic visuals.
In May, more than 600 guests gathered in the New York art institution’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden for the dinner—a first for the annual fund-raiser—to honor philanthropist Agnes Gund. The tented dining space featured sections of round and rectangular dining tables that were decorated in four springtime shades—sunshine yellow, robin’s egg blue, rich teal, and cherry blossom pink, with linens, seat cushions, glassware, and floral arrangements to match. Greenery swags hung from the clear plastic tent’s trusses, and faux grass carpeting lined the space.
Nonprofit homeless youth resource center My Friend’s Place hosted its 30th-anniversary gala in April at the Hollywood Palladium. Each of the six awards presented was a sculpted piece of art handmade by one of the organization’s youth artists.
The Robin Hood Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary at its annual benefit in May at the Jacob K. Javits Center with a theme of the “Lights of New York." David Stark Design and Production evoked cityscape imagery throughout the space, including layers of Times Square-style signs—printed, constructed, and digital—that communicated the foundation's message.
For the California Science Center’s annual Discovery Ball in Los Angeles in March, the museum’s event services department took inspiration from the new exhibit, “King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh,” and transformed the museum’s Samuel Oschin Pavilion into King Tut’s royal tomb. Video mapping from Bart Kresa Design masked the space shuttle Endeavour, turning it into the dining room’s focal point.
The crowning jewel of the Met Gala, which took place in May, was the 30-foot-high floriated centerpiece created by gala designer Raul Avila. The structure was inspired by a jeweled tiara, "the most striking component of the Pope's ensemble," said Avila, that once belonged to Pope Pius IX. This year’s event was inspired by the New York museum’s new exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”
Stress-relieving coloring books for adults from Scarborough & Tweed offer a creative alternative to traditional party favors and corporate gifts. Coloring pencils are included. Pricing is available upon request.
During the Soup'er Sandwich event at the New York City Wine & Food Festival in October 2013, Martin's Famous Potato Rolls handed out squeezable stress balls shaped like packages of the brand's bread rolls.
Wool and the Gang delivers full “knit kits,” including yarn, chunky needles, easy-to-follow patterns, and a link to online video tutorials, to offices or event spaces for knitting parties. (The repetitive action of needlework can reportedly induce a relaxed state like that achieved with meditation and yoga.) Projects range in difficulty from a clutch, pillow cover, knit snood, crochet snood, and hat; items will change for spring and summer season. The party hosts receive their kits for free, while guests receive discounts on their kits, ranging from $27 for a clutch to $35 for a snood or hat. Knitters can also attend preplanned parties that Wool and the Gang hosts in cities around the country. Tickets are approximately $40, depending on the project; the price includes the materials needed.
At last year's Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Whole Foods offered guests scented sprays as well as sunscreen, hair ties, and bobby pins. A sign nearby read, "Refresh yourself before you wreck yourself."
To bring more energy to the trade show floor, organizers of the 2013 National Auto Dealers Association Convention & Expo created four destinations that offered activities such as makeovers, 20-minute dance workouts, health screenings, and chair massages. One section provided pinball machines, arcade games, Nascar simulators, a photo graffiti wall, and golf swing analysis for attendees to play.
Zeel sends massage therapists to meetings and events in several cities throughout the United States, including New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Washington. Massage therapists arrive at venues with their own massage tables and can perform services such as Swedish or deep-tissue massages for 60, 75, or 90 minutes. For meeting breaks, therapists can give 10- to 15-minute chair massages. The services can be booked 30 days in advance.
IMEX America, as part of its Be Well at IMEX program, offered a meditation room at last year's conference, which was held in Las Vegas in October 2015, to encourage the mental and physical well-being of attendees.
The mobile spa At Your Service travels to events and meetings throughout greater Toronto and specializes in providing services at fashion shows, media events, corporate gatherings, and spa parties. Hosts can book services including facials, manicures, pedicures, hairstyling, and eyelash application.
