22 Fresh Ideas to Elevate Your Anniversary Celebrations

In 2023, East West Bank celebrated its golden anniversary with an Oscars-inspired celebration—with thoughtful nods to its history and deep roots in the Asian American community. Appropriate to the theme, the event took place in May (Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month) at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Golden details—like a lavish gold carpet—nodded to both the Oscars and the bank’s golden anniversary, while an eye-catching step-and-repeat drew attention with colorful flowers and a prominent “50” at its center.

Innovate Marketing Group handled full-service event management, event strategy, creative design, scriptwriting, and talent management for the event, while ENSO Creative created the grand-entrance milestone wall. See more: How This Major Bank Celebrated Its 50th Anniversary in Stylish—and Meaningful—Ways

To mark its 10th anniversary this past fall, Glow Recipe—the cult-favorite skincare brand co-founded by Korean American entrepreneurs Sarah Lee and Christine Chang—teamed up with Sephora to host a bicoastal pop-up experience inspired by Seoul, South Korea’s iconic night markets. The Los Angeles- and New York-based events, produced in collaboration with experiential marketing firm MKG, included an interactive timeline showcasing the brand's 10-year journey, plus a shop featuring beloved discontinued products, and even a vending machine dispensing popular skincare items.

Within the timeline booth, MKG designed a year-by-year, 3D display of all Glow Recipe milestones and products. The space also showcased educational content from the lab, had product trial opportunities, and inspired guest participation with several surprise-and-delight moments. In one section, guests rang a bell, and a pink-gloved hand misted them with the brand's popular Watermelon Mist—a moment producers told us "sparked genuine laughter and delight—a true moment of surprise and connection." See more: This Skincare Brand Took Guests on a Multisensory Journey Through Its 10-Year History

Here's an oldie but a goodie: For the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami's 15th anniversary in 2012, designer David Stark used past press releases, editorial clippings, photos, and invites to decorate the walls of the institution. The color-coded mosaic also covered lampshades suspended from the ceiling.

“We’re looking at 15 years of MOCA existence, creating decor entirely out of abstractions or croppings of the different graphics that appeared in catalogs, ads, press pieces, invites, and posters throughout the 15 years,” Stark told BizBash at the time. “It's this incredible collage created with the museum’s content. It allows us to create something new and exciting, but still have meaning of what everyone came together for.” See more: MOCA Showcases History With Color-Coded Collage at 15th Anniversary Event

Mount Sinai's "Gala of the Century" also used archival photos—along with vintage newsboy and other fun moments—to celebrate the Toronto hospital's founding in 1923. The September 2024 event (which had been delayed a year due to the war in Israel) aimed to transport guests back to the 1920s when the Sinai Hospital opened, with cuisine, decor, and musical performances that set the scene. One highlight? The main staircase was wrapped in a vintage black-and-white photograph. Newsboys dressed in vintage apparel also roamed the space and posed for photos.

The main reception space also featured a 30-foot backlit step-and-repeat featuring Sinai’s timeline and milestones over the 100 years. Decor, lighting, and furnishings were all anchored in Mount Sinai's signature blue branding.

Food stations were also wrapped in vintage black-and-white photographs from the era of Mount Sinai's founding. BT/A Advertising served as lead producer and creative director, while CANDICE&ALISON INC. handled design and decor. See more: This Hospital Gala Cleverly Evoked 100 Years of History—While Also Raising $12.5 Million

In October 2024 in New York, This is Lester produced an experiential event honoring Warners' 150th anniversary. Aiming to reintroduce the intimate-apparel brand to a new generation and celebrate the company's evolution, the event immersed attendees in the company's history as they explored an interactive timeline spanning 150 years, featuring a collection of products from its archives. Guests also participated in a time capsule activity for Warners' archives, filling out bespoke postcards featuring vintage Warners imagery and sharing what confidence means to them today.

Food can also be a fun place to nod to a milestone anniversary. When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, caterer Patina added a subtle "50" to dishes.

The LACMA event, which raised $5 million for the museum, also featured a performance from John Burroughs’s High School 60-student Powerhouse Choir, who created and sang a birthday medley, backed by a firework wall display. See more: How to Celebrate a Major Anniversary—and Raise $5 Million

In late 2023, school and office supplies company Bazic Products hosted a glamorous "Silver Jubilee"—complete with pencils, paper clips, and more products as decor—to mark 25 years in business. Designer and producer Sterling Engagements incorporated Bazic Products throughout the space—including frozen inside a 20-foot ice wall fabricated by Ice Bulb. Products like colorful Bazic scissors also served as ornaments on snow-dusted evergreen trees.

For one of the centerpiece designs, ENSO Creative utilized 4,000 Bazic Products pencils to create rolling hills accented with greenery and candles. See more: How Office Supplies Became Chic Party Decor at This Anniversary Bash

For Tres Generaciones’ 50th anniversary, the team wanted to bring the tequila brand back to its roots—sometimes literally—with a plant-filled gathering in 2023. Created in collaboration with experiential agency Team Epiphany, the event featured an entrance hallway spotlighting the history of the tequila brand. "The name Tres Generaciones, along with the three stripes on the bottle, represents the brand's 'three Dons' and how the brand is literally three generations from the founding of tequila itself," explained Team Epiphany founder and managing partner Coltrane Curtis. "In balancing the brand story with the stories we told across music, we wanted to start with the entrance to the space being a journey through the legacy of these three Dons and the history of Tres Generaciones."

Real plants and soil were used as decor throughout the space. "With roots that trace back to the origins of tequila, it was important to showcase it both literally and figuratively," said Curtis. "We loved having the plants all around the venue with real soil. It represents the brand's rich history, and the commitment to the process that goes into the development of Tres Generaciones tequila." See more: This Tequila Brand Celebrated Its Roots (Literally) With a Plant-Filled 50th Anniversary Celebration

July 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon, and to celebrate, Smithsonian Channel held an event that took guests back to that year—1969—through food, photo ops, and interactive vignettes.

Smithsonian Channel tapped marketing and event agency Advantage to produce and design the event. “We really wanted to create an immersive experience for our guests,” Smithsonian's Joanna Brahim told BizBash. “We wanted them to feel like they were stepping into a time machine and reliving that monumental day when history was made, through 1960s culture and space.” In a mission control-inspired space, for example, there were replica desks and telemetry units, and actors portrayed NASA staff who conversed with guests and led celebratory moments with American flags throughout the event.

The event also gave a nod to the decade through era-specific food and drinks with modern twists. Smithsonian Channel and Advantage crafted a menu that included Spam fried rice served in Spam cans; mini Jell-O molds; gimlets and Manhattans; and dishes including turkey and beef with veggies, meatloaf sliders, and shrimp cocktails served on TV dinner trays. See more: Smithsonian Channel Took Guests Back to 1969 for a Moon Landing Celebration

The Humane Society of the United States' "To The Rescue!" Gala was held in November 2024 at Cipriani 42nd Street. This was the 15th year of the gala, which Eventique has produced since its inception. Because it was also the organization's 70th anniversary, the team featured some of its milestones at the entrance, which doubled as a photo moment.

In March 2024, NBC took over NYC’s Rockefeller Plaza, turning it into “Olivia Benson Plaza” to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. (Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, is the show’s main protagonist and a fan fave.) “When we started thinking about ways to honor SVU’s 25th anniversary, we thought, 'What better way to bring the show to life than with an experience designed for the show’s loyal fandom?'” explained Margaret Walker, senior vice president of NBC brand strategy and audience growth at NBCUniversal Entertainment, about the concept.

Highlights included photo opportunities in front of a larger-than-life Law & Order sign as well as a “Dun Dun” sign—a nod to the show’s famous theme song—along with subway-inspired turnstiles and custom street signs. The experience was produced by NVE Experience Agency. See more: See How NBC Celebrated the 25th Anniversary of 'Law & Order: SVU'

In 2017, Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of Confederation with a number of official ceremonies and commemorations. One of those was flower show Canada Blooms, where the City of Toronto’s garden featured red and white flowers that depicted a maple leaf and the number of years of the country's Confederation. The installation was designed by Curtis Evoy and Stanley Roszak.

The Royal Ontario Museum also celebrated Canada's anniversary with its ROM Ball. The event, which showcased musician and photographer Bryan Adams’ photo exhibition of 28 Canadian icons called “Canadians,” featured wall projections of the Canadian flag and red “150” maple leafs. The event was designed by digital video company the Mustard Shop, event designer William Fulghum, and the lieutenant governor of Ontario's gala team. See more: 18 Highlights From Canada’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations

To celebrate Savannah College of Art and Design’s 40th anniversary in 2019, the educational institution and BRC Imagination Arts teamed up to create a unique on-campus experience. "SCADstory," a 360-degree immersive experience, explored the school’s history, starting with its founding by an elementary school teacher from Atlanta. The space, which spanned 1,500 square feet, had 11 projectors and took guests through a series of whimsical, emotional vignettes, narrated by an animated character who guided visitors through the early years of the university.

“Instead of creating a conventional exhibition or documentary-style video, we envisioned a space filled with memories and moments—a series of immersive and emotional vignettes that would ‘string together’ to tell the story of an audacious dream. It’s a universal story that everyone can relate to,” Matthew Solari, creative director at BRC Imagination Arts, told BizBash. See more: How This School Brought its History to Life with an Immersive Experience

At the 2011 dinner for Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art's anniversary, each table number represented a year in the museum's 75-year history.