Event Activation Ideas

Mid-Meeting Treats: Side Street Sweets\' assortment of rugelach, $44.50 for a two-pound tin.

MoMA's pop-up centerpiece

Place colorful bulk candy from ACandyStore.com in glass jars as table decor, and set out glassine bags for guests to fill with the sweets as a take-home favor.

Digital stationery has come a long way—Paperless Post has partnered with decoupage artist John Derian to create a collection of 65 customizable designs, including ones with seasonal imagery like holly branch motifs and antique lettering. The digital invitations and envelopes cost less than $1 each.

Night Owl Paper Goods custom prints holiday invites and cards on eco-friendly, sustainably harvested wood. Upload your own logo or design, and choose from more than 40 colors. The design-your-own holiday cards, including envelopes, are $4.50 each for 50, with discounts for larger orders.

Provide a full-sensory holiday experience by hanging ScentSicles scented ornaments from a faux Christmas tree or around the room.

Create a cozy cabin atmosphere with log-shaped throw pillows from Spoon Sisters on couches in the lounge area. Guests can take the pillows, $19 each, home as gifts.

Koyal Wholesale offers festive, budget-friendly partyware including red-and-green stripe biodegradable paper drinking straws, $29 for 100. Discounts are available for large orders.

The new Crystal line from AFR Event Furnishings offers a touch of glitz. The collection includes a high-back loveseat, bench loveseat, chaise, round ottoman, and bar fronts in white or black embellished with crystal nailheads. Available nationwide, the rental price for each item ranges from $250 to $575.

MYdrap cotton napkins and place mats come on a perforated roll. Each place mat roll, $40, includes 12 recyclable squares that can be torn off or kept connected to create a table runner. The holiday collection features snowflake and tree patterns.

Keep employees’ behavior in check with Spoon Sisters' cheeky paper cocktail napkins, which cost $6.50 for 20.

No room for a photo booth in the office? BYO Booth is a new Instagram-driven virtual photo booth app that works with any computer. Guests take photos on their smartphones, then tag them with a specific hashtag which automatically uploads them to the computer’s printer and to a slideshow display on the monitor. The photos can also be instantly uploaded to Facebook, and a basic package costs $199.

Artificial Ice Events has a variety of winter-themed entertainment options, including a giant, hand-carved rocking horse, an inflatable tubing slide that simulates sliding down a snow-covered hill, and 15-foot-tall inflatable snow globes that can be branded for photo ops. The company also offers snow machines and ice rink rentals.

Need an ice display? IceSculpture.com is a new network of hand-picked, independently owned ice sculpting companies that can offer sculptures of all shapes and sizes as well as live performance ice shows around the world.

Brooklyn-based Custom Cookies creates holiday- and winter-themed treats that can be customized with company logos. The cookies cost $3.95 each, with discounts for large custom orders.

Keep dips fresh and chilled throughout the party with Tilt from Soiree Home. Store the flavorless, iceless chilling sphere, $35, in the fridge, then place it in the dip bowl when it’s go-time.

The ivy and scarlet Yuma linens from BBJ Table Fashions can give tables an organic holiday look. Rental prices start at $23 for a 90-inch square; matching chair ties are $3 each.

Add some extra sweetness to the bar offerings with Melville’s peppermint-flavored hard candy shot glasses, $20 for 12, available at Candy.com.

For a winter lodge feel, rent the new antler chandeliers from Blueprint Studios, available nationwide, to hang overhead.

The new SculptLamps from SculptWare can work as centerpieces or cocktail table accents. Available to rent in two sizes—14-inch, $45, or 30-inch, $65—the acrylic lamp bases and spandex lampshades include remote-controlled LEDs that can glow in 13 colors.

Festive drink stirrers from HeathOriginal are a cute addition to cocktail glasses. The cost is $15 for 12.

If you want to go all out, the “Winter Soiree” round frosted-plastic invitation from Allie Munroe is sure to impress. The silk-screened invites cost $1,242 for 100 with unprinted envelopes.

Wine is a standard corporate gift, but you can beef up (pun intended) the offering with a custom gift cooler from Butcher and the Burger. The $100 gift set includes two bottles of wine, plus a cutting board, summer sausage, and a branded baseball cap. Optional add-ons can include a gift certificate for a cooking classes, additional bottles of wine, and carving utensils from Tabula Tua.

The Cookie Joint's "cookie fries" make for fun meeting snacks or take-home gifts. Baked in the shape of crinkle-cut fries and served in french fry packaging, the shortbread cookies come in flavors such as cinnamon spice and chocolate toffee crunch. Accompanying dipping sauces—including salted caramel, marshmallow, and peanut butter—are served in small paper ketchup containers.

Chocolat Uzma Sharif is a locally made line of chocolates with an "East meets West" sensibility. Continuing a family tradition started by her grandfather, a pastry chef in Pakistan, Uzma Sharif hand-makes unique treats such as Rishi organic jasmine tea chocolates, hazelnut-coriander pralines, and—for the holiday season—dark-chocolate-peppermint candy cane truffles. Her products are available in gift boxes and hat boxes that range from $15 to $95. Sharif can also host chocolate-making classes for small groups of six at her Pilsen boutique and studio. The classes are two hours and cost $65 per head; each guest leaves with a box of chocolates.

Available for private holiday parties, the Adler Planetarium is currently showing Welcome to the Universe in its Grainger Sky Theater. At the end of the show, the theater is transformed into a 70-foot snow globe as falling snow projections flash across its domed screen. The planetarium's exclusive caterer, Food for Thought, has seasonal offerings such as the Apropos cocktail made with clover honey and cinnamon.

Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith, founders of local catering firm the Hearty Boys, have a new, gift-worthy book of recipes. The New Old Bar, which hit shelves this month, has recipes for more than 200 cocktails and dozens of finger foods. The catering firm can also arrange to serve the vintage cocktails featured in the book for holiday gatherings.

MSG Entertainment's production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes, comes to Rosemont's Akoo Theatre December 14 to 30. With glittery new costumes, lighting effects, and a 50-foot LED screen, the family-friendly show includes Santa Claus cameos and a sing-along to "Joy to the World." Group tickets are available in blocks of 10 or more.

Kehoe Designs' new Goldsmith Holiday decor scheme includes golden furniture rentals and marble-top accent tables. The collection introduces the new Paloma sofa and also includes bar fronts made from silky, kelly green fabrics and sleek white reindeer sculptures. For small, impromptu gatherings, the company can arrange for decor in as little as seven days; more elaborate events require longer lead times.

Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique launched a line of cake pops in October. The treats ($2.50 each and $28 per dozen) come in 18 different flavors, including cookies and cream and strawberry dream. Gift options include cake pop bouquets and tiered cake pop stands.

Magnolia Bakery's holiday offerings include boxes of treats that can be served at meetings or distributed as gifts. The Christmas and Hanukkah cupcakes ($24 to $36) are topped with edible ornaments. The Twelve Days of Christmas cookie assortment ($125) if filled with snickerdoodles, shortbread cookies topped with red and green sugar, peppermint meringues, gingersnaps, and more. The bakery also supplies boxes of 12 vintage-inspired holiday cards ($18).

For a lighter catering option—which may be a welcome reprieve in a season full of decadent treats—the Sofitel Chicago offers its new De-Lite menu. Developed by nutrition and fitness experts from the Thalassa Sea & Spa in France, the menu includes items such as oysters with passion fruit caviar and marinated skirt steak with seasonal steamed vegetables.