Australian multivitamin brand Swisse launched a traveling, wellness-focused activation at Wanderlust 108—a public yoga, running, and meditation event series—on September 9 at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. The activation, which was produced by Mirrorball, had a Detox Platform section with chair massages. The area featured hanging Spanish artichokes, an ingredient found in the Swisse Liver Detox Ultiboost product.
The Human Rights Campaign’s 22nd annual H.R.C. National Dinner took place September 15 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. A photo booth in the Wells Fargo "Equality" lounge showcased the company's sponsorship of an exhibit at the Newseum opening in March 2019, called "Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement—50th Anniversary (1969-2019)." The photo booth featured a backdrop of newsprint with headlines from the time period, accented by a neon rainbow.
Cashmere Bathroom Tissue held its 15th annual fashion show, which raises funds for the Canadian Cancer Society’s breast cancer research, on September 25 at Arcadian Court in Toronto. The event featured 15 models wearing couture dresses made of bathroom tissue, created by Canada-based designers. And to celebrate the collection’s 15th anniversary, Toronto diamond jeweler Kimberfire donated more than 60,000 crystals, which were incorporated into the dresses.
U.K.-based kitchen appliance brand Russell Hobbs held an event for its U.S. launch with brand ambassador Kate Beckinsale on September 12 at NoMo Kitchen in New York. The British-theme event, which was produced by Freddie Georges Production Group, showcased brand appliances and served beverages to guests in floral teacups. Additional photo ops included a branded floral wall and red telephone booth. Florals were handled by Rachel Cho Floral Design, and the P.R. and event concept were helmed by Lippe Taylor.
Food Network Magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary with an event that took place at Abigail Kirsch Pier Sixty, The Lighthouse & Current in New York on September 13. The event’s “birthday cake” was created with cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls, topped with three baked crescents shaped to create the number 10. Rubik Marketing designed the event installations.
The event served macarons with flavors inspired by Sherwin-Williams paint colors. The colors and flavors were labeled in a color palette wall.
Samuel Adams recently opened a pop-up shop in Toronto that highlights four Canadian small businesses the brand considers innovative. The Queen West space, which opened September 20 and runs through October 14, is open to the public and invites guests to purchase products from eyewear brand Loch, no-tie shoelaces Xpand Laces, loungewear brand Soft Focus, and leather bags and travel accessories brand 8.1.2. Additionally, guests can sample exclusive Samuel Adams beers from a branded bar. The activation was executed by the brand in partnership with Craft Public Relations.
As part of the financial services company’s partnership with the Seattle Seahawks, American Express hosted a pregame activation for cardmembers and football fans on September 23, before a game against the Dallas Cowboys. The activation, located in a space near CenturyLink Field in Seattle, featured a throne fashioned from footballs and Seahawks helmets. Momentum Worldwide produced the activation.
The activation featured a “Wings Of Their Own” mural, created by local Seattle artist Angelina Villalobos, which invited guests to pose in front of wings painted in the Seahawks colors. The wings featured “feathers” signed by former Seahawks players.
Essence held an end-of-summer consumer event celebrating fashion, culture, and community on September 9 at Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn. The event featured 90 local vendors and nine local food trucks, along with talent including Amanda Seales, Yemi Alade, Teyana Taylor, and segments from Macy’s and Nike. An eye-catching photo op in the venue spelled out the name of the magazine in colorful block letters and included a life-size blue and purple compact mirror. Event production and design elements were helmed by April Luca of Gold Sky Productions and Jovanca Maitland, director of live events and experiential at Essence.
On September 10, more than 300 guests gathered at the Brooklyn Museum for the Yellow Ball, hosted by American Express and its Platinum Card Creative Director Pharrell Williams. The evening, which benefited Young Audiences Arts for Learning, was named and inspired by Williams, who explained the theme to attendees: “Yellow is the color of creativity and curiosity. It serves as a representation of the bright light we are shining on the need for arts education and its incredible power to paint a brighter future for us all.”
The night featured a multi-room art experience by Daniel Arsham of Snarkitecture, performances from magician and endurance artist David Blaine, and musical performances by Missy Elliott, A$AP Ferg, and DJ Stretch Armstrong. Guests arrived on a yellow “red” carpet.
On July 13, the Women’s Board of Lincoln Park Zoo hosted its annual Zoo Ball, raising more than $1.2 million to benefit the Chicago institution. More than 800 guests attended the event, which featured the theme “Zoobilee” in honor of the zoo’s 150th anniversary. The three-course meal by Jewell Events Catering included a “Cherries Zoobilee” dessert with a celebratory white-chocolate garnish.
On September 15, nearly 900 guests gathered for the annual Wolf Trap Ball, raising $1.7 million in support of the foundation’s programs. Held at the Filene Center at the Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, the event was hosted in partnership with the British Embassy. The decor by Silver Lining Design Group featured nods to Great Britain, including images of the Union Jack, streetscapes, and the iconic London Eye.
Authentic Brit fare by Design Cuisine included savory scones and biscuits, fish and chips, grilled lamb, and Yorkshire pudding. The lush, vibrant florals were provided by Philippa Tarrant and Twigz.
The Clara Lionel Foundation, founded by Rihanna, held its fourth annual Diamond Ball on September 13 at Cipriani Wall Street. The black-tie benefit raised nearly $6 million to support CLF’s global education, health, and emergency response programs. SO Events handled the event design, which featured colorful projections on the ceiling.
Guests could touch up at a makeup station featuring Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line.
On August 18, about 900 of Chicago’s philanthropists and social leaders gathered at Shedd Aquarium for the fund-raising fête, BLU. Hosted by Shedd Aquarium’s auxiliary board and co-chairs, the event raised more than $300,000 to support its conservation efforts. This year, the event featured the theme Behold the Beauty, which showcased the aquarium’s new exhibit, "Underwater Beauty." Similar to previous years, animals served as honorary guests; during an aquatic presentation, penguins popped up to surprise attendees.
On August 25, the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, Tanglewood Music Center in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts commemorated the composer who was an alumnus and faculty member at the academy. The special centennial gala party featured giant drum chandeliers by Rose Brand with photo panels of the late Bernstein.
Designed by W.P. Miller Special Events, this six-day event, which took place from July 24 to 29 and was held at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, gathered guests to celebrate the foundation, which addresses issues affecting African-American children and families. The convention included events and activities across the city and a closing gala with a gold and black color scheme.
The eighth annual Hero Dog Awards, sponsored by the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation and Zoetis Petcare, honored America’s courageous canines. This month, for its annual “Adopt-a-Dog Month,” American Humane teamed up with the Hallmark Channel’s “Adoption Ever After” campaign to help animal lovers find adoptable dogs in their area. The awards were held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on September 29.
This year, more than 3,500 guests attended the San Francisco Symphony’s opening-night gala on September 5. For the event, Hensley Event Resources turned the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall’s parking lot (known to staffers as “Lake Louise”) into a tented pavilion to host the patrons' dinner and after-party. Longtime collaborators Blueprint Studios decided to make flowers—symbolizing peace, beauty, and art—the focal point of the gala’s design.
This year, the Watermill Center summer benefit celebrated its 25th anniversary with the theme, “Time Bomb.” Held on July 28, the fund-raiser posthumously honored renowned art collector Pierre Bergé, a friend of the center’s founder Robert Wilson. The event brought in $2.2 million.
For the annual dinner, Hargrove decorated the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington with rainbow draping, spherical balloons in varying sizes, disco balls, and HRC graphics with the message “TurnOut.” The 22nd annual event was held on September 15.
Live auction items such as hand-painted toilet seats raised awareness about the importance of colon cancer screenings at the Bottoms Up! fund-raiser in Toronto in 2010. The theme extended to the menu: Sponge cakes with custard filling, created by A La Carte Kitchen, were designed to look like sugar bottoms.
At the marijuana-theme gala at the Los Angeles museum in April—April 20, of course—a so-called “4/20 buffet" included munchies like hot dogs, mac 'n' cheese, pizza, and Chinese food.
Channeling Adam and Eve, eight models in fig leaves and body paint handed out red apples at the entrance to the Liberty Grand for the Toronto International Film Festival's opening night gala in 2011. The party drew a crowd of more than 3,000 attendees and paid tribute to Jon Amiel's film Creation, which tells the life story of British scientist Charles Darwin.
As a way to introduce its four new printers, Hewlett-Packard turned a raw space in New York's Chelsea neighborhood into a makeshift lab and color-coded showcase based around the CMYK color model in 2012. The production team at ExtraExtra used a design scheme based on the printing industry's CMYK color format to underscore the thermal technology of the ink-jet products.
Absolut took over Chicago's Venue One in 2011 to host a launch party for Absolut Wild Tea. Because the flavor combines notes of oolong tea and Nordic white elderflower, the event took on an Asian-meets-Swedish theme. The main room had a minimal look, accented with mirror-top tables, patterned lighting, and bamboo fixtures that held boxes of white flowers.
Lincoln Center benefits and hard hats may sound like an unlikely combination, but at the cultural center’s 2007 “Good Night, Alice” event, the omnipresent theme of construction made it happen. Tabletops adorned with silver hats, trucks, and lunch boxes set the scene inside the dinner tent. In the silver lunch boxes, guests found lobster and chop-chop salad, minted pea soup, crunchy wontons, and Asian sesame dressing.
In 2009, the Art Gallery of Toronto hosted a gala with a "Massive Uprising" theme. Songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister played as guests arrived for the party. Riot police wielding billy clubs greeted attendees as they entered Walker Court, where a group of models dressed as hippies conducted a sit-in.
To mark the premiere of Breakout Kings in 2011, A&E hosted a jailhouse-theme reception at New York's Stage 37. The backdrop for the photo booth was a mugshot-style height chart. Letter board props imprinted with "A&E State Penitentiary" helped complete the picture.
In 2007, the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave gala had decor inspired by Shaker culture. Wooden doors, baskets, miniature apples, curly willow, maple trees, and rocking chairs all contributed to the festive but serene environment. Guests encountered wooden gates and warm projections of leaves and branches upon exiting the elevators.
Macklemore's hit song “Thrift Shop” was topping charts when Roth Capital Partners held its annual conference in March at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel—and it brought in the rapper for entertainment. The firm played up the performance with an overall eye-catching, thrift-store theme with design from Elite Productions. Funky furniture and accent pieces made a lounge space feel like a vintage living room.
The Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation hosted a gala that paid tribute to Dr. J. Bernard Gosevitz in June. The doctor's love for outdoor sport came through at the gala, where guests fished for prizes at the "Dr. G. Tribute Fish Pond."
Grey Goose Canada is hosting a traveling French picnic-inspired dinner series this summer, offering Grey Goose cocktails and a menu from chef Justin Kent. The Montreal event, which took place June 27 at the Forest and Stream Club, invited guests to dine in a picnic-style setting. The series will travel to Vancouver August 1 and Calgary August 3.
Servers carried cocktails in cups that featured the Grey Goose logo and color scheme.
Branded decor included a sailboat with the event hashtag and Grey Goose logo. The events are designed by Community.
Cointreau continued its annual Art of La Soirée event series with a celebration of the margarita in June, which took place at the Fig House in Los Angeles. The event, which was designed to evoke the spirit of 1948 Acapulco, offered classic Cointreau margaritas in branded glasses.
The event featured an interactive cocktail bar with an orange backdrop that was decorated with salt shakers, limes, oranges, jalapeños, and bottles of Cointreau.
Decor included a ceiling installation created with hanging oranges.
Elderflower French liqueur St-Germain and landscape artist Lily Kwong celebrated the summer solstice by creating a floral installation, which debuted June 21 on the High Line in New York. As part of the installation, Kwong designed a canopy of fresh flora and fauna.
The event's step-and-repeat featured St-Germain bottles and flowers that spelled out the brand’s name.
Kwong’s installation also included a hedge maze that had a branded cocktail cart.
The maze also offered a photo op that included a bicycle covered in greenery and Maison St-Germain spelled out in flowers.
Svedka hosted a summer party to launch its new blue raspberry flavor on June 14 at Siren Studios in Los Angeles. The event, which was produced and designed by Shadow and Jessica Fels Event Production & Design, featured a pink-and-blue-theme bar that included neon signage of the event hashtag.
Overheard LA invited event guests and talent—including singer and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Erika Jayne—to create and share custom memes at a photo booth.
The event also offered blue and pink ice cream that was spiked with Svedka, courtesy of Nitropod Ice Cream.
Campari kicked off the fifth annual Negroni Week on June 5 at Lovage Rooftop in New York. A custom bar was decorated with Campari bottles and showcased a marquee sign of the event title.
The event, which was centered around the past, present, and future of the Negroni cocktail, included a “Negroni Goes to Space” bar that imagined the future of the cocktail.
The event also offered guests a Negroni fountain.
Bacardi partnered with electronic music trio Major Lazer to bring Caribbean-inspired concert events to fans. The first event, which took place in May on a private beach in Miami, offered guests cocktails in branded coconuts.
The event featured multiple on-theme areas, including an island-inspired DJ booth with a branded backdrop.
