Theo Dari, also known as Laserman, works with lasers to create dramatic, high-energy, and highly visual entertainment acts. The artist has performed at numerous events, including at the Long Beach Arena's new Pacific Ballroom debut.
Photo: Courtesy of Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
Key Artist Group offers so-called "living vines" for event booking. The human foliage can interact with guests and with one another for slightly surrealistic entertainment, just right for seasonal events.
Photo: Courtesy of Capital Home and Garden Show
Originally commissioned by Swarovski for the window of its flagship store in London, Private Drama's "Twilight Flutterby" costumed performer features a tornado of colorful butterflies encrusted with crystals.
Photo: Courtesy of Private Drama
Toronto-based street painter David Johnston uses chalk to make realistic trompe l’oeil images at live events for brands such as 20th Century Fox, Canon, and Loblaws. He creates the seemingly 3-D scenes and objects on flat surfaces such as cement or canvas.
Photo: Courtesy of David Johnston
Kansas City, Missouri-based Quixotic Fusion offers an eclectic swirl of acrobatic feats, pulsing rhythms, and colorful digital images and light projections. The group can perform from five-minute openers to 75-minute features.
Photo: James Duncan Davidson
Companies including Google and Disney have booked iLuminate. Dancers wear bodysuits outfitted with wirelessly controlled lights that coordinate with the dancers’ movements, resulting in sci-fi visuals.
Photo: Courtesy of iLuminate
At a Prudential Real Estate conference in Orlando, Dallas-based Corporate Magic paired live dancers with digitized butterfly wings projected inside floating orbs to create a single, fluid movement of person and pixels onstage. In-house animators achieved the effect by using green-screen technology.
Photo: Jeffrey A. Davis
Lumina the Laser Violinist puts a futuristic spin on a classic instrument. The musicians, booked solo or as a duo or trio, play with a laser bow while standing among pulsing light beams.
Photo: Courtesy of Lumina the Laser Violinist
The entrance to the "Big Top Booby" included a 60-foot-long pink carpet, red lights, and wacky carnival mirrors.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
To get guests into the spirit of the vintage circus theme, Stila Cosmetics and Ardell Lashes provided makeup touch-ups and lash enhancements throughout the evening.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Signage was designed to evoke the look and feel of a vintage circus.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Upon entry, guests were given a Boobyball punch card directing them to the 15 different sponsor activations, including a Mott's Clamato Caesar booth and a Flare magazine photo booth.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Another photo booth for the evening included the kissing booth, which allowed guests to share the photos to their social networks.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Organizers invited guests to post their photos to Instagram with the hashtag #Boobyball. To further encourage engagement, Page Activations set up a printer where folks could print the images and hang them on a branded wall or take them home as a keepsake.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
The circus-theme candy bar offered plenty of childhood favorites from Maynards.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
During the event, pink-suited stilted dancers made their way through the crowd for a whimsical effect.
Photo: Jenna Marie Wakani
Floral arrangements by San Remo Florist topped bars at the "Ticket to Ride"-themed cocktail reception.
Photo: BizBash
Guests could play carnival games at the cocktail reception.
Photo: BizBash
Conklin Shows provided a series of carnival games for the event.
Photo: BizBash
Guests could win prizes at a water-gun game.
Photo: BizBash
Organizers draped red and white fabric above the circular custom stage and runway, designed by Mandell Entertainment.
Photo: BizBash
Framed pictures advertising the Barnum & Bailey circus topped tables.
Photo: BizBash
Organizers divided the room into two colour schemes with dining tables dressed in orange and black, and black and white.
Photo: BizBash
Banners advertising Barnum & Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth" hung throughout the space.
Photo: BizBash
The evening's theme was spelled out—quite literally—on a giant drop-down screen that appeared onstage during the program.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Dinner tables were topped with miniature Ferris wheels that held cupcakes topped with colorful frosting.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Fluffy white flowers spilled out of striped containers that were shaped like classic popcorn boxes.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Jugglers flanked the step-and-repeat, and guests could have their photos snapped with the circus performers.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
The cocktail reception had the look of a carnival midway, and guests could play games to win plush prizes.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Guests could twirl their own sticks of pastel cotton candy.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
Evoking a child's dress-up box, a photo booth had props including royal crowns, feathery fans, and star-topped wands.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
At $25 a pop, Starlight Bears were available for purchase. The cuddly toys helped contribute to the evening's overall take of $450,000.
Photo: George Pimentel Photography
A contortionist performed onstage near the entrance of the museum.
Photo: A.J. Messier Photography
Decor & More created eclectic lounge areas with mismatched furniture, zebra-print rugs, and lamps shaped like a woman's leg. Colourful lights hung overhead.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
Mannequins dressed in vintage circus-style outfits formed visual vignettes throughout the museum.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
The event was full of activities and sponsor activations, including one from new partner Moroccan Oil, which created a "Beauty Spot" for hair touch-ups.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
Mync offered guests complimentary last extensions; their staffers wore carnival-style costumes.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
In the V.I.P. area located in the Rotunda, guests guessed how much a meteorite weighed and the accession date of a glittering pallasite for a chance to win a Birks necklace.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
Janet Waddington, assistant curator of invertebrate palaeontology at the ROM, showed guests an ancient fossil in the Tent of Wonders.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
A2D2 aerialists performed during the circus-inspired fund-raiser. Adding rigging to the historic museum was not an option, so A2D2 brought their grounded Cirque-u-l'air rig.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
Ribbon dancers circulated the event, along with unicyclists, contortionists, and jugglers.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
Magician Ray Chance performed for V.I.P. guests.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
Presidential Gourmet created a menu with upscale, carnival food, like salted caramel corn.
Photo: Carla Warrilow/BizBash
The caterer also served a "Three Ring" salad with golden beets and a lemon vinaigrette, spinach with roasted red peppers, and carrot medley with a Pommery dressing.
Photo: AJ Messier Photography
Human clock towers
Exclusive Acts
Dance Troupe Projection
While projected signage has long been an event staple, utilizing a dance troupe to create branding blurs the line between marketing and art in order to tease a product launch or showcase a company’s breadth of creativity. Silhouetted behind a translucent screen, dancers can use their bodies to shape words or objects related to the event—as Pilobolus, a modern dance company famous for its shadow theater, has done for brands such as IBM and Google. Pricing available upon request.
Photo: Courtesy of Pilobolus
OfficeMax’s Green Tie Ball XXI, held September 15 at A. Finkl & Sons in Chicago and hosted by nonprofit organization Chicago Gateway Green, had an Alice in Wonderland theme. Roaming actors and performers from Redmoon Theater were dressed as characters from the story.
Photo: Timothy Hiatt
Produced by Absolute Production Services, the Green Tie Ball had three tented areas. The V.I.P. tent, called the "Mad Hatter's Tent," featured rustic, organic decor by Kehoe Designs. The focal point of the bar area was a giant drum shade embellished with a bronze tree, oversize pocket watches, and wine bottles. Absolute worked with Windy City Music on the lighting design, which included timepiece gobos.
Photo: Timothy Hiatt
In a homage to the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s tale, the Canadian Cancer Society hosted an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-inspired fund-raiser in Montreal in April. Produced by Alison Silcoff Events, with decor by Decor & More, the event had guests helping themselves to champagne from the Queen of Hearts' dress during the cocktail reception.
Photo: Ian Woo
At the Canadian Cancer Society gala, topiaries divided the cocktail reception and dining areas. The eclectic dining room design included five different table centerpieces, seven linen combinations, three types of chairs, and four colors of chair cushion. Giant playing cards hung overhead.
Photo: Alexandre Chéron
Chefs from Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth created an inventive Alice in Wonderland-inspired menu with items like "Large and Small Shellfish in a Pool of Tears."
Photo: Fahri Yavuz
Guests at the Canadian Cancer Society fund-raiser were also served soup from a teapot. An edible pocket-watch crust rested inside the teacup.
Photo: Fahri Yavuz
The Washington Ballet turned to its production of Alice for inspiration when designing its annual gala in April. Organizers tapped Syzygy Event Productions to produce the event. Guests were greeted by younger members from the ballet school dressed like the card guards from Alice in Wonderland.
Photo: Jeremy Norwood
During the reception at the Washington Ballet gala, waiters served tea sandwiches shaped like hearts, spades, and diamonds from Susan Gage Caterers on trays lined with playing cards.
Photo: Jeremy Norwood
Inside the auditorium, red linens, chairs, cushions, place settings, and rose-tree-style centerpieces filled the space in a re-creation of the Queen of Hearts' palace. A wash of red lighting from Digital Lightning completed the look.
Photo: Jeremy Norwood
In January, the Washington Ballet’s Jeté Society, a social and networking group of ballet patrons from ages 21 to around 40, hosted its annual dance party. PoshBooth provided a photo booth complete with Alice in Wonderland-themed props like bunny ears, a crown, and a top hat in the V.I.P. section of the ballroom.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com
Syzygy Event Productions worked with Digital Lightning to turn the reception and ballroom areas into a whimsical environment. A large, white tree decorated with red hearts inspired by the story's Red Queen served as the backdrop for the check-in desk.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com
In November 2011, students from the Illinois Institute of Art, mentored by fashion designer Maria Pinto, put together a table setting at Diffa's Dining by Design in Chicago inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen for BizBash
The sixth annual gala fund-raiser for the National Ballet of Canada, inspired by Alice and called "Mad Hot Wonderland," was held in Toronto in June 2011. Staffers dressed as Alice played croquet with flamingo mallets and hedgehog balls on Osgoode Hall's lawn, across the street from the venue. Later, guests could purchase raffle tickets from staffers dressed up as Alice, who dispersed themselves throughout the party.
Photo: Gary Beechey
In the dining area, checkerboard tables covered with mismatched gold and silver cutlery added to the Alice theme. Giant mushrooms and heart-shaped hedges served as centerpieces.
Photo: Gary Beechey
A caterpillar relaxed in the Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which served as the V.I.P. area at the Canadian National Ballet's fund-raiser.
Photo: Gary Beechey
In May 2010, Walt Disney World hosted a kickoff party for the U.S. Travel Association's 2010 International Pow Wow, the largest global conference for the travel industry. The design team used stacked chairs à la Alice in Wonderland to decorate the food stations near the teacup ride.
Photo: Charity de Meer for BizBash
Oversize playing cards resembling the Queen of Hearts' guards from Alice in Wonderland displayed menu descriptions and served as small food stations.
Photo: Charity de Meer for BizBash
Also at the International Pow Wow, Alice in Wonderland-style teacups served as food displays. Light bites included finger sandwiches on skewers.
Photo: Charity de Meer for BizBash
Aerialists and burlesque dancers dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland performed at the University of Toronto's Hart House in February 2010, for the school's second annual Palais d'Hiver event. The event adopted a "Through the Looking-Glass" theme as a nod to the release of Tim Burton's film adaptation of Alice's adventures. Dancers from Glamour Puss Burlesque performed three shows from the group's Burlesque in Wonderland production.
Photo: Aaron Miller
At the Palais d'Hiver event, black-and-white checkered linens topped tables, and teapots and teacups held floral arrangements. Giant playing cards also hung from potted plants.
Photo: BizBash
At MoMa’s annual film benefit in November 2009, the museum kicked off an exhibition of Tim Burton's work with decor inspired by his movies. Inspired by his soon-to-be-released film Alice in Wonderland, the lobby was filled with topiaries, large paper flowers, and whimsical white chairs designed by event producers Spec Entertainment.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash
In October 2009, Toronto's Bell Gala had fairy-tale decor by Solutions with Impact, with several nods to Alice, including a teacup carnival ride in the reception area.
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash
In the Bell Gala's after-party space, giant playing cards, chairs, and flowers were suspended from the ceiling.
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash
In October 2009 at the Meridian Ball, David Stark's decor was inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The influence was evident in the Queen of Hearts-styled dessert buffet, where Stark included faux cakes made of carnations, and a suspended silver teapot poured a string of red tassels into a stack of saucers and teacups.
Photo: Tony Brown/imijphoto.com for BizBash
Toast produced the Justice Ball benefit in 2009 with an Alice in Wonderland theme. Decor included giant mushrooms and funhouse mirrors. A pair of stiltwalkers, one dressed as the Mad Hatter, circulated among the guests.
Photo: Dale Wilcox
Cossette Communications in Toronto paid tribute to Alice in Wonderland with their 2007 holiday party featuring teapots filled with flowers, topiaries, and paper roses. Wooden signs hanging from one of three 12-foot juniper trees pointed guests in the right direction.
Photo: Gary Beechey
In October 2007, fashion line Alice & Olivia hosted a "Mad Tea Party" at its Bryant Park boutique to debut the Spring 2008 line. A bright yellow table held refreshments and served as a decorative centerpiece to the room. Tea sandwiches and cocktails were served in teacups.
Photo: BizBash
In 2006, Disney celebrated the launch of a home furnishings line inspired by Alice in Wonderland with a lavish Alice-style tea party at the Bel Air home of Quincy Jones. Event Eleven used pieces from the collection along with a custom 40-foot table to recreate the look of the Mad Hatter's tea party.
Photo: Courtesy of Disney
For an Alice in Wonderland-inspired design inspiration shoot, Kate Miller Events displayed Luxecuts custom laser-cut place cards leaning against vintage teacups filled with flowers at each place setting.
Photo: Sarah Maren Photography
For an Alice in Wonderland-themed bat mitzvah at Greenhouse in New York, Maya Kalman of Swank Productions decorated the dinner area with accents inspired by the Queen of Hearts.
Photo: Courtesy of Swank Productions
At an Alice in Wonderland-inspired afternoon cocktail party designed by Fete Events, guests were offered food and drink by a giant Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Tim Burton's film version.
Photo: Courtesy of Fete Events
