Nature Themes

Guests walked across a covered bridge to enter the garden-themed fund-raiser for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Topiary trees—designed to look like bears and deer—surrounded an ice sculpture just inside the entrance to the reception area.

Guests could ride a carousel during the cocktail reception, sponsored by Huawei.

A grassy pattern on the bars in the reception space added to the garden theme.

Green foliage surrounded 12 televisions (from presenting sponsor Samsung) on two media walls positioned on either side of the gate leading into the dining area.

The silent auction included a series of items from presenting sponsor Samsung, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and a 46-inch Samsung 3D LED television.

Tall glass tubes filled with branches flanked either side of the green carpet leading into the dining room.

More than 2,000 guests dined on a menu that included butterfly shrimp, grilled beef filet mignon served with a breast of chicken with white morel mushroom sauce, and a dessert of red velvet cake.

The backdrop for the massive stage include a garden wall and iron gate.

Danielle McGimsie, an entertainment reporter with eTalk, interviewed guests on the white carpet.

Inspire attendees with an impactful message and creative design.

Technical rehearsals are a key element of a gala event involving multiple high-level speakers and cutting edge technology.

Tables incorporating minimal florals and elements that can be repurposed are a sustainable design staple. The hand-blown glass votives are by GlassyBaby who donate proceeds to charity.

Created from a single piece of reclaimed wood, this podium was a focal piece of the evening.

The Foyer was filled with tropical rainforest greenery to immerse guests in the experience and camouflage LED screens.

Decorators covered a wood bar with moss and vines and high-top cocktail tables with moss Fortuny satin linens.

To make the 120 guests feel as if they were having dinner in a clearing in the woods, decorators used fiber-optic draping to create a sky above and emerald green turf carpeting to simulate the forest floor below.

Performers camouflaged as plants hid among the foliage.

Each of the 11 tables had unique centerpieces, comprised of flowers, miniature plants, and birch candleholders covered in moss and vines.

Faux monstera leaves served as place mats on the hand-carved oak tables.

Decorators maintained the theme into the hallway to the restrooms, covering the floor with green turf and hiding the walls with black drapes illuminated with green lighting.

Dinner began with an heirloom tomato salad topped with fresh baby greens, bocconcini mozzarella, and pine nuts with a basil vinaigrette.

Tropical plants surrounded the black lacquer stage, which was flanked by a waterfall in the rear and, on either side, video screens surrounded by faux rock.

To enter the main event space, guests traveled down a 20-foot path densely lined with trees and tropical plants.

Near the bar, a performer camouflaged as a weeping willow tree blended into the decor.

The evening began at the Civic Opera House, where the decor channeled a Shakespearean forest in the spirit of the evening's production of Macbeth.

Decorative touches at the opera house included golden drapes flanking the entrance to the lobby.

In the lobby, buffet tables were adorned with branches and leafy arrangements from Heffernan Morgan.

Guests could help themselves to hors d'oeuvres before the opera and during intermission.

After the performance, some guests continued the evening with dinner and dancing at the Hilton Chicago.

At the Hilton, shimmery gold linens covered dinner tables, and towers of Heffernan Morgan's golden branches sat atop crystal risers.

Some 4,000 golden branches and 1,000 candles went into the design of the Hilton-based dinner dance.

Stylized trees and a canopy of fake foliage will form the enchanted forest-theme design at the Emmy Governors Ball and Creative Arts Ball.

Sequoia Productions is producing the ball for the 16th consecutive year, creating 20,000 feet of design.

La Premier's flowers will include sculptural calla lilies and orchids.

Sponsor Grey Goose will pour a specialty cocktail created for the big award night.

The 400 tabletops at the Governors Ball will have varying looks, with some floral arrangements that tower, and some with a lower profile.

Patina Catering's entrée will be beef filet mignon with cippollini onion, potato-pear gratin, and asparagus.

Guests will dine on a chocolatey dessert from Patina and sip wines from Beaulieu Vineyard.

At the Kohl's Launch of Juicy Couture, an elaborate press wall of roses was inset with a sparkling logo. The event took place at the John Lautner-designed Sheats-Goldstein residence in Los Angeles in September.

In January, Ross Mathews and the Happy Egg Company feted California's Proposition 2 (mandating that eggs sold in the state must come from hens with larger cages) with an event that included cutouts of chickens placed on the yellow arrivals carpet for 3-D effect. The event was at West Hollywood’s Palihouse.

Pandora hosted its first "Hearts of Today” honoree luncheon at the Montage Beverly Hills in November, where a decorative press wall had logos framed in purple roses set against lush hedging.

In 2013, Chandon hosted its American Summer Soiree in New York with a step-and-repeat backdrop that included a dense collection of inflatable pool toys, including those in shapes of blue whales, pink flamingos, and flowers, alongside logo beach bags, balls, bottles, and chairs.

The Museum of Modern Art’s annual Party in the Garden in New York in 2013 had a modern, tropical motif. Accordingly, the arrivals backdrop included plenty of greenery, which was accented with logos from MoMA and sponsor Cartier.

Vogue Eyewear's Los Angeles launch party for its campaign with Eva Mendes in 2013 had a playful feel throughout. A step-and-repeat wall made up of logo balloons arranged in a rainbow grid set the sunny, colorful tone for the alfresco affair.

For the New York premiere of Columbia Picture's Bad Teacher in 2011, a 130-foot step-and-repeat area got 3-D touches in the form of classroom-style elements, including school chairs, desks, and red apples.

The Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic is known for its whimsical decor done in the brand's signature yellow-orange color. In 2013, the Los Angeles event included a vintage flower-stand-style step-and-repeat. In addition to flowers, bottles were potted like plants and logo plaques on wooden sticks were planted in moss.

At Christie's “Green Auction: Bid to Save the Earth” in New York in 2012, the arrivals area was dominated by a wall of live plants. Many of the flowers used—including phalaenopsis, clovers, cabbage, ferns, and ivy—were replanted following the event.

A 2013 event partnership between jewelry and accessories brand Stella & Dot and liquor company Midori resulted in a 3-D press wall enlivened by emerald green colored objects—accessories from the line like sunglasses and necklaces, alongside the brightly colored bottles.

One way to get an event's message out is to write it in a way that's too big to miss. The Angelina Jolie movie Salt premiered in Los Angeles in 2010 with 12-foot-tall letters that spelled out the film's name in eye-catching graphic form.