The release of thousands of lanterns, which lit up the night sky, served as invitation to other states to come to Las Vegas, according to organizers.
![A neutral yet sophisticated color palette set the tone for the dinner decor, where Tyger Productions focused on using materials that were texturally significant without being abrasive. 'Because the content and mission [of Home Base] is of such a serious nature, we didn't want to distract with bright colors,' said Ty Kuppig, principal of Tyger Productions.](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2017/10/tp_0031.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70&w=400)
In June, the Ritz-Carlton, Boston, unveiled a $13 million redesign highlighting the 3,500-square-foot ballroom overlooking Boston Common. The space accommodates 300 guests for a reception, 250 guests for dinner, or 70 with conference seating. The 1,200-square-foot Studio, an additional function space adjacent to the ballroom, accommodates 125 guests reception-style, 80 for a seated dinner, or 45 with conference seating. The property offers audiovisual capabilities, in addition to the services of a Technology Butler.
The Dallas Arboretum debuted a new space, A Tasteful Place, in October. Specifically designed to promote garden-to-table cuisine, the building offers 180-degree views of the arboretum’s grounds and lagoon, a high-tech demo kitchen, an in-house broadcast video system with live camera feeds, and a sound system with voice lift capabilities. The venue is equipped to hold traditional events as well as cooking classes and demonstrations. Measuring 3,600 square feet, it seats as many as 120 guests for banquets or 200 theater-style, or holds 150 for receptions. In-season vegetables, herbs and flowers grow in the surrounding gardens.
Newly opened in November 1 in Fort Worth, the 4 Eleven brings new life to a restored warehouse on South Main Street that dates back to the 1920s. The 18,000-square-foot multi-tenant space includes an event venue, a florist, a home furnishings store, and a gourmet popsicle maker, among other local businesses. The event venue can accommodate as many as 420 guests for cocktail-style events, and a flexible floorplan allows for a variety of setups. Additional rentable spaces include a garden patio, a brick-walled courtyard, and a small private room.
San Francisco's Blueprint Studios has a rental piece known as the "Picnic Chill Table." The table has a built-in aluminum tray which allows it to chill drinks; the tray can also hold floral arrangements.
City of Hope, a nonprofit cancer treatment and research center, held its Spirit of Life award gala for its Music, Film, and Entertainment Industry group—which consists of more than 1,000 music and entertainment executives who help raise money for the organization—on November 2 at Barker Hangar in Los Angeles. The event, which was produced and designed by Namevents, had a sunset beach theme with blue, yellow, and pink tones. The city of Hope logo was brought to life in the venue’s ceiling through oversize panels that were hung in the shape of rays of sunlight and illuminated in the event’s color palette.
The event featured Egyptian-inspired tablescapes. “We created the Egyptian-inspired ambiance using sleek golden pyramid-shape centerpieces with candles placed in each and black gloss pyramid paper weights with the brand logo decals applied, alternated with florals consisting of hydrangeas, roses, peonies, and baby’s breath to reflect a mood of freshness and elegance,” said Ali Lasky, president and co-founder of the Influence. “The founder of the line, Lyda Fischer, had her mind set on baby’s breath arrangements so they were hand-crafted for the tables. The gold, black, and white theme was representative of the Cleopatra Cat Eye Stamp, but we wanted to keep it chic and beautiful since we were launching the brand Lyda Beauty simultaneously.”
The event offered guests custom cookies created by Cake and Art bakery.
At the Washington Ballet's annual Nutcracker Tea Party, held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in December, guests enjoyed a formal tea service in the ballroom, which was decorated with ballet-theme decor and balloons.
In October at the Mandarin Oriental in Boston, Tyger Productions created a glam art deco atmosphere for the UnMask Cancer benefit, which supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. Large 24-inch crystal spheres on tall gold pedestals punctuated the room, along with a waterfall curtain of cut crystal from above.
In September, Oakville Galleries and PCM Project and Construction Management presented Cocina: A Dinner in Gairloch Gardens, a six-course dinner benefiting the Oakville Galleries’ artistic and educational programming. Held on the 12-acre property along Lake Ontario, the dinner, catered by Victor Dries, was served al fresco on rustic harvest tables inside a tent, among the 15,000 blooms of the gardens. Rentals were provided by event sponsor Higgins Event Rentals.
The 65th annual Crystal Charity Ball, held at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole's Chantilly Ballroom in December, featured "An Evening in the Alps” theme. The decor included crystals, sparkling lights, trees and winter florals, fake snow, hanging lanterns, snowy mountain scenes painted on backdrops, and more; Tom Addis Productions Inc. designed the event. The ball raised $5.8 million for eight non-profit organizations that serve children.
In honor of its 50th anniversary, South Coast Plaza hosted the Art, Excellence & Friendship gala in October at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California. The space featured a luxe black, white, and gold decor scheme with all-white floral arrangements, including cascading Phalaenopsis orchids as centerpieces. Local design company White Lilac handled the decor and florals.
National non-profit the Colon Cancer Alliance hosted its annual Blue Hope Bash in October at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington. This year’s theme was “In This Together,” in which the evening’s host, NBC Weekend Today co-anchor Craig Melvin, shared the story of his brother who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. The event raised $1.5 million.
The 65th annual Crystal Charity Ball, held at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole's Chantilly Ballroom in December, featured "An Evening in the Alps” theme. The decor included crystals, sparkling lights, trees and winter florals, fake snow, hanging lanterns, snowy mountain scenes painted on backdrops, and more; Tom Addis Productions Inc. designed the event. The ball raised $5.8 million for eight non-profit organizations that serve children.
The main color scheme of the party was gold, as a nod to the Globes' 75th anniversary. Orchid was used as an accent color throughout the party space. Town & Country Event Rentals provided the tables, chairs, and other rentals, while Special Event Contractors created the sub floors, decorative perimeter wall, and the pavilion anchored atop the Aqua Star Pool. Meanwhile, SoCal Tents provided the dining pavilion, and Emerging Entertainment provided audio.
The red carpet immediately presented the event decor themes, with geometric patterns on the walls, a palette of gold and orchid, and a series of oversize gold vases. Agile Eye Solutions provided all large-scale decorative elements.
In honor of the Globes’ 75th anniversary, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association teamed up with Dick Clark Productions to hold its first official viewing- and after-party on Sunday night. Winners were able to have their trophies engraved in real-time at an engraving station inside the party, which was held in the Wilshire Garden of the Beverly Hilton. 15/40 Productions produced the event, which had a focal point of glittering pink chandeliers in a variety of sizes.
The long bar at the HFPA party featured tall florals that matched the party’s pink color palette. Fiji Water was a sponsor, and signage throughout the event marked the Globes’ 75th anniversary.
Longtime party partners Warner Brothers and InStyle magazine teamed up for an after-party in the Oasis Courtyard at the Beverly Hilton. JOWY Productions and Eric Buterbaugh Florals constructed a tent to completely cover the hotel’s fountain, transforming the courtyard into a “Reimagined Louis XVI” world using modern twists on French Baroque architecture as well as columns, mirrors, and a palette of black, white, and gray with splashes of deep purple. Sponsors include Cadillac, Eyelove, and L’Oréal Paris.
Buterbaugh’s floral arrangements, which were all white with eye-catching splashes of red and black, served as a focal point during the seated meal.
Hospitality and catering firm Schaffer handled food for the evening, aligning with the event themes of “Love, Light, and Laughter.” For the idea of light, Schaffer designed LED trays to illuminate monochromatic hors d’oeuvres with saturated color. “We want the guests to experience their first tastes visually," said Kathleen Schaffer, the company’s creative director. “For the dinner we prepared an interactive first course of chestnut purée. Guests pour their purée over a composed bouquet of fragrant pickled persimmon, fresh pomegranate, and spiced pepitas. The entrée course is served family-style as a way for guests to break bread together and celebrate.”
Live-streaming can be a great option for family and friends who can’t attend a wedding—particularly a destination one—due to physical or financial limitations. For a casual, D.I.Y. live-stream approach, options include Skype for as many as 10 viewers or Facebook Live; for a more professional look, companies such as My Streaming Wedding provide an experienced videographer with equipment, a dedicated portable Internet uplink, no viewer limits, and the option for a live chat so viewers can leave comments for the bride and groom.
The Burner mobile app allows user to create a temporary phone number. While the initial buzz around disposable numbers may have focused on somewhat scandalous uses, Burner has created Burner Connections to make its app handy for all sorts of everyday applications. Couples can use their Burner number to collect RSVPs by asking guests to text the number with either “accept” or “decline,” and the responses automatically will be added to a Google spreadsheet. For photo collection, guests can text their pics to a Burner number and the Dropbox Burner Connection will collect them in one folder. The Burner number also can gather audio greetings from guests to collect in a private SoundCloud playlist. Finally, the Evernote Burner Connection can serve as an information hotline similar to a chatbot: Burner will reply to guests’ text questions using information loaded into Evernote.
A custom Snapchat filter can be created for guests to personalize the pics they snap with their phones. The process is simple: couple's upload their own design or use one of Snapchats many templates. The bride and groom can add their Bitmojis to the filter, pick the date and time when the filter needs to be available, and use a map to set the boundaries of where it can be accessed. They then submit the filter to Snapchat and wait for a response—usually in one business day—to confirm that the photo is approved and ready for purchase. Pricing starts at $5 and goes up depending on the size of the geofence and the amount of time the filter will be available.
Why settle for traditional photos from a handheld camera when a couple can get beautiful—and unusual—pictures and video shot by a drone? If drone photography is on the wish list, there are specific questions to ask when selecting a vendor: Can providers show examples of past weddings they have shot from a drone? For how long have they been flying a drone? Is the venue suitable for drone photography? What are the local regulations regarding drone photography? Also ask to see the photographer's drone license, registration, and proof of insurance. Finally, note that drones can be a little noisy and disruptive, especially if guests are not expecting them. Planners are advised to let guests know in advance that there will be a drone taking photos from above and encourage them to ignore it if the couple wants to get candid images.
Back before smartphones, brides would put disposable cameras around their receptions to encourage guetsts to capture the event from their perspectives. Nowadays there are dozens of apps that simplify that process of gathering great candid pics. Guests can download Veri, WedPics, or Eversnap, among others. Features vary slightly, but in general as guests take photos, those images are uploaded to an online album that can be shared to social media or for print orders.
Typically held the day before the Oscars, the Film Independent Spirit Awards honor indie filmmakers. This year's ceremony, held Saturday in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, handed out top honors to Get Out, Call Me By Your Name, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The ceremony took on a blue and orange color scheme, and sponsors included Lindt Chocolate, Fiji Water, and Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.
On February 27, the lifestyle website Icon Mann hosted a pre-Oscars dinner at the Beverly Wilshire. While the brand’s dinner typically celebrates black men in film, this year’s event also honored former Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs with the inaugural Icon Mann Legacy Award. The dinner was hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, and celebrities such as Halle Berry, Kobe Bryant, Common, and Quincy Jones helped honor Isaac’s accomplishments.
W.P. Miller Special Events handled design and production, drawing inspiration from the recent movie Black Panther. Seating in the dining area was designed to form an oversize “X," a nod to the film.
For a jaunt to Baltimore, consider the scenic Rye Street Tavern. The 315-seat restaurant from NoHo Hospitality Group’s James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini and partners Luke Ostrom and Josh Pickard opened in September near the Patapsco River. The 13,000-square-foot bi-level American restaurant stays true to its Mid-Atlantic roots with food sourced from local farmers. Baltimore-based Patrick Sutton designed the space, using elements like rich leather, wood, concrete, and steel along with some Americana flair. Rye Street Tavern seats more than 200 guests, including indoor and outdoor bar seating for 80 and four private dining spaces that accommodate groups of 10 to 300. The space also features a stage for live entertainment.
Opened in December, Assembly Chef’s Hall is Toronto's first multi-chef food hall. The hall’s 18,000 square feet space is divided into three distinct areas: the Beer Hall, the Main Hall, and the Courtyard Patio, which is slated to open this summer. Each of the spaces can seat 200 at harvest tables or 400 cocktail-style. In the Beer Hall, there are projectors with screens and a sound system for live music. Each food stall offers a different style of food including vegan, Japanese, seafood, Italian, Mexican, and barbecue. Menus from the food vendors can be designed for special events. Each of the spaces can be booked separately or together for full buyouts.
Nearly 400 people attended the museum’s annual benefit and after-party in West Palm Beach, Florida, in February, which honored trustee Gilbert Maurer for spearheading the New Norton, the expansion project that’s in its final year of construction. The evening raised more than $1 million to support the museum’s programs and exhibitions.
In February, the Boston Ballet hosted its annual gala at the Castle at Park Plaza. This year’s event, titled “Juliet's Ball,” featured decor inspired by the Ballet’s spring show, Romeo & Juliet. The event raised $1.7 million, with more than 500 guests in attendance.
The Canadian Film Centre kicked off its 30th anniversary celebrations in February with its annual gala and auction at the Ritz-Carlton, Toronto. In honor of the anniversary milestone, the decor featured a navy blue and silver color scheme with large crystal candelabras as table centerpieces.
