See Inside an Over-the-Top, Salvador Dalí-Inspired Birthday Party

For a client's 60th birthday, Marc Friedland created a surreal, multi-sensory event inspired by the iconic Spanish artist.

Claire Hoffman

February 18, 2020

The dining room—which Friedland called the “hero” of the event—had two long dining tables, each with 80 seats. “Like a painter would create his canvas, I started thinking about the different elements [I wanted to] incorporate,” he said. “I approach events very much like a painting. It becomes a layered-type of growing experience."Photo: Yvette Roman PhotographyLOS ANGELES—For a recent 60th-birthday surprise party, Marc Friedland, owner of Marc Friedland Couture Communications, encouraged his client to think outside the box. "I just don't believe in doing events or parties that don't have a sense of purpose, that don't have a sense of personalized distinction," said Friedland in a recent podcast interview with BizBash chairman and founder David Adler, where he discussed the event. "[Events] are almost living, breathing works of performance art."

After learning that the client owned a Salvador Dalí painting, the idea for a surrealist, Dalí-inspired party took hold. The over-the-top event, which took place last fall at the California Club in downtown Los Angeles, had three acts—a cocktail party, a 160-seat dinner, and an after-party—all with the goal of immersing guests in a surreal, multi-sensory environment that engaged their senses and “invited joy,” said Friedland, who worked with executive producer Matthew David Hopkins of 360 Design Events.

"Every element was an opportunity to look, to wonder, to say wow,” he told Adler. “It wasn't so much about being extravagant—it was about the visual sensations every step of the way, between the music, the visuals, the camaraderie of the guests."

Hear more behind-the-scenes details in BizBash's GatherGeeks podcast interview, and scroll down for a look inside the over-the-top birthday bash.

VENDORS
Audiovisual Production: No Static Pro Audio Inc.
Cake: Joanie & Leigh's Cakes
Concept, Creative Direction, Design: Marc Friedland Couture Communications
Culinary and Service Consultant: Kai's Events
Decor, Design, Rentals: Revelry Event Designers
Entertainment: Elan Artists
Event Coordination: Exquisite Events
Executive Production: 360 Design Events
Floral Design: Celio's Design
Lighting: Images by Lighting
On-Site Logistics and Production: Sir Rockman Productions
Photo Booth: Scenario Photography
Photography: Yvette Roman Photography
Venue: The California Club
Videography: Dave Schwep
Wine: Wine Warehouse

For the invitation, each of the event’s 180 guests received a hand-painted illustration of the guest of honor as Salvador Dalí. It was set in a guilded frame with a brass plaque with each guests’ name etched in. "The invitation is the keepsake that sets the tone,” said Friedland.

Photo: Courtesy of Marc Friedland Couture Communications

The event kicked off with a cocktail reception, which featured classical music and surreal elements such as a wall of gloved arms offering drinks. Other elements included hands that were holding small spoons of pasta, plus an installation of rubber chickens hanging over deviled eggs.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

A wall of cigar boxes served as a unique seating chart.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

Instead of traditional table numbers, Friedland created Dalí-inspired symbols—such as a melted clock—that directed guests where to sit. The props were worked into the centerpieces along the dinner tables.

Photo: Courtesy of Marc Friedland Couture Communications

To avoid sensory overload, Friedland created transitions between the different event elements, both through changing music and through physical movement. For example, to get from the cocktail reception to the dinner, guests walked through a hallway filled with hanging monkeys. "It gave people moments to recover, to reflect, and then be prepared with anticipation of the next part of the evening,” he explained.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

The dining room—which Friedland called the “hero” of the event—had two long dining tables, each with 80 seats. “Like a painter would create his canvas, I started thinking about the different elements [I wanted to] incorporate,” he said. “I approach events very much like a painting. It becomes a layered-type of growing experience.'

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

The place settings used plates from Italian artist Piero Fornasetti.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

The dinner had one waiter for every two people, and their movements were carefully choreographed. Each course was intended to tell a different story through the food, said Friedland, and also through the waiters’ outfits, the entertainment, the tableware, and more. For example: The second course, called "nautical new wave," was a lobster salad. Waiters wore classic yellow fishermen's overalls, and a string of Rockette-style dancers dressed as lobsters performed.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

LED video-wall displays were also synchronized with each course, further immersing guests in the theme.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

Dinner entertainment included opera singer Prince Poppycock, a former contestant on America’s Got Talent.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

At the end of the third course, after a yodeler sang happy birthday, waiters released a series of confetti canons.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

Guests headed to the venue’s third floor for the after-party, which was designed to feel a bit more modern with bold colors and furniture from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. The dessert table continued the surreal theme.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography

Napkins featured fun—or “surreal”—facts about the guest of honor.

Photo: Courtesy of Marc Friedland Couture Communications

A photo booth was inspired by Dalí’s Mae West Lips Sofa, a sculpture the artist created in 1937. On the walls were paintings of the guest of honor’s eyes with cigar eyelashes. The photos were framed in the same style as the invitation.

Photo: Yvette Roman Photography