6 Ideas for Fall Entertaining in Boston

Krissy Price of Pollen Floral Design fashions organic, textured centerpieces incorporating succulents, branches, and vintage elements as well as more traditional blooms. For autumn, “I love to use a color palette that nods to fall, but doesn't scream pumpkins, corn, and harvest,” Price says. “So I tend to use a lot of darker foliage, like smoke bush, Hopi Red Dye amaranth, and maple branches, and pair them with cream or caramel garden roses, some red dahlias, and little chocolate cosmos.” She will also stay on site the day of an event to serve as a one-woman anti-wilting brigade.

At musical venue the Sinclair, groups can start with sunset cocktails on the roof deck overlooking Harvard Square, then move indoors to the dual-level, industrial-chic club space. The club holds as many as 525 people and includes three separate bar areas, a large performance stage, and sound and lighting equipment for live acts. Customized catering from the attached restaurant is available. Audi and Converse both recently hosted events at the space.

At Hopster's Brew & Boards in Newton, corporate groups can gather for private beer-making sessions. Gatherings can choose from 30 recipes or come up with their own—small-team competitions are encouraged—while sampling current craft beers on tap and enjoying handmade charcuterie and cheeses. While the beer ferments over the following weeks, groups can submit customized bottle labels before returning to pick up the fruits of their labor.

Liquid Art House, the hybrid restaurant-art gallery housed in a majestic Back Bay building, is now taking reservations for large-scale events. The 10,000-square-foot space holds as many as 300 guests and features an art lounge with a 32-foot-high ceiling and an 11-foot-tall Lu Murano chandelier. Chef Rachel Klein, formerly of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, will customize a menu that plays to the venue’s “art hospitality” dining approach. More intimate affairs are held in the private dining room.

Hive puts the craft cocktail experience on wheels, serving a full bar out of a retrofitted 1983 Airstream trailer. Partners Graham H. McKissock and Lance Davis work with hosts ahead of time to develop specialty drinks that play to an event’s theme and incorporate local spirits and seasonal ingredients. Come autumn, those might include cocktails like the Sage Brown Derby (rye whiskey, fresh grapefruit juice, fresh lime juice, agave syrup, bitters, and fresh sage leaf) or the Cranberry Caipirinha (Aquavit, cranberry simple syrup, and fresh lime juice). During colder months, the Airstream can even be set up indoors, space permitting.

The BSA Space, a 6,800-square-foot LEED Platinum-certified facility and Boston’s first "green" skyscraper, serves as an ideal venue for eco-conscious corporate events and trade shows. The main gallery space offers expansive views of both Fort Point Channel and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, as well as a catering kitchen and easy viewing of current exhibitions. Four fully equipped meeting rooms allow for smaller breakout groups.