Fashion Week Tent Event

Boston Fashion Week may start today, but the tent in the courtyard of the Mandarin Oriental was christened earlier in the week with a swanky evening affair.  After a day of meetings, our corporate guests were invited into the elegantly transformed space for an evening of mingling, drinking and dining. For a fun surprise, an illusionist performed few mind-bending tricks – it was hard to look away – and worked his way through the crowd, aweing and impressing guests as he went.

Rich hardwood tables, plush seating and lavish linens afforded guests a luxurious setting for the reception and warm amber lighting ensured the space only got cozier as the night went on – despite the dreary weather outside!

Here are a few photos from Tuesday’s exclusive event.

An Evening on Federal Hill

Last week, we planned and executed décor and entertainment for a 2-day meeting at the Rhode Island Convention Center which included a cyber café, breakfast and lunch décor and a total transformation of the RICC foyer space for a lavish evening reception.

Check out the Cyber Café décor – complete with two fully functioning coffee bars, lounge seating and fresh flowers!

For the evening reception, guests were transported to Providence’s own “Little Italy” – Federal Hill.

A grand entryway welcomed guests to “the Hill” while décor included a working fountain (reminiscent of De Pasquale Plaza), park benches, lampposts and trees.

Interactive chef demo stations featured chefs from four local hot spots – Blue Grotto, Pane e Vino, Potenza, and Camille’s. Custom signage, menu boards and surrounding table décor reflected the individual personality of each restaurant. From simple white linen with lanterns, to elegant supper club lamps and even rod iron café tables complete with umbrellas, Corinthian Events ensured guests experienced all that “the Hill” has to offer in one, fabulous evening!

Chihuly Inspired: A Reception at the MFA

The whole city is talking about it; and if you haven’t been to see it yet the Chihuly Exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston should be high on your list of things to do (don’t worry, you have until August 7th).  As you enter, you will notice that Dale Chihuly’s glass blown flowers may be stagnant but they are very much interactive!  Throughout the entire exhibition, each eye-catching piece is conversing deliberately and playfully with the others, creating a fantastical and completely captivating composition.

With the colored glass being perhaps the most apparent aspect of the exhibition, what better way to design a dinner reception in the new Shapiro Family Courtyard, than to play on those colors?  So we did just that.  Using orange, turquoise and purple, the vibrancy of Chihuly’s work was echoed throughout the courtyard with rich linens and whimsical florals scattered on the cocktail lows and high top tables.

There’s still a month left for us to plan your very own Chihuly event!

Laughs to Benefit AANE

It’s gala season here at Corinthian Events and this one was especially, well, funny!  On April 30th, 450 guests gathered at the Marriott Hotel in Newton for an evening of spirited bidding, upscale comfort food and a hilarious performance by comedian Steven Wright.

One of the best silent auctions around, jumbo balloons held up silent auction signs denoting various item categories.  High tops dressed in red and black linens were topped with sound-activated lights that flickered throughout the ballroom.  Guests enjoyed passed tapas (lobster fritters and mini meatloaf – yum!), a seasonal pasta station and action stations including shrimp and grits.

Once the silent auction closed, guests moved to upstairs ballroom for the main event!  Cabaret tables were adorned with glowing tulip arrangements by Winston’s Flowers.  The live auction and AANE program ensued, and the night was capped off by a classic Steven Wright performance.  He even sang for the audience!

We can’t wait ’til next year for lots more laughs!

Packed with a Playful Punch: Newton-Wellesley Hospital Gala

On Saturday night, we designed and produced the 12^th Annual Newton-Wellesley Hospital Gala in the Commonwealth Foyer and Ballroom at the Copley Place Marriott.  And with over 850 guests in attendance, the evening raised 3 million dollars for the Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health services – a great success!  The gala celebrated “The Time is Now… to Focus on Our Kids’ Mental Health,” projecting a sense of importance and urgency for the cause, while playful décor elements added a whimsical, “kid-like” tone.

Welcomed into the Commonwealth Foyer by spandex glow columns, guests meandered through the silent auction space, navigating the 300-plus items by signage hanging from plump balloons.  They perched at light infused, color-changing high tops, industrial platinum swirl tables or shopped at the glamorous Judith Ripka bar.

At 7:30pm, auctioneer, John Terrio, welcomed guests through a series of glowing “tornado” columns into the whimsical ballroom.   Cylindrical hurricanes rested on over-sized gerbera daisies, which sat upon neon linens, while suspended spheres hung above the ballroom, echoing the balloons from the silent auction area.  Advanced Lighting & Production Services’ ever-changing lighting colors and patterns were projected throughout the ballroom, highlighting the silver cell backdrop, glowing spheres and the Beantown Band’s rockin’ performance.

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While dining on a seasonal spring menu, guests battled for live auction items and enjoyed a surprise presentation by Jack Connors to celebrate Michael Jellinek’s 10^th year of service as the president of Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Dancing ensued in the ballroom while those looking for interactive post-dinner entertainment gave one of the four “Minute to Win It” events a try; battling the clock to perform quirky tasks, such as a team of two creating a three-soda can pyramid a piece of spaghetti and no hands.  A tech-inspired “teen lounge” boasted Wii games, while classics such as hula hoop, Twister and Jenga were also offered.

Bill Brett’s photos from the night can be seen on Boston.com here.

Big Night, Big Recap

Ladies and Gentlemen, the recap you’ve been waiting for!  As the press profoundly described, Big Night 2011 was, well, big.  Once again, we designed and produced Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay’s iconic annual gala at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

And with a them as playful as Mardi Gras – the decor opportunities were endless!  Upon arrival, guests were greeted by giant, fan powered “dancing” purple and green inflatable fly guys at the BCEC entrance.  Once guests made their way upstairs, they were instantly transported to Bourbon Street without leaving Boston city limits.  A lavish entryway featuring the Mardi Gras king and queen travelled all the way from New Orleans to welcome the guests.

The pre-function space was transformed into an authentic New Orleans street fair with masks, jesters and parade floats delivered straight from Louisiana!  The main focal point of the cocktail space was a life-size float draped in bold fabric which featured costumed dancers and provided a festive backdrop for the bars.

Finally, it was time to enter the ballroom for a celebrity chef infused dinner!  Guests enjoyed a Creole-inspired menu designed by local area chefs Michael Schlow, Andrea & Seth Raynor, Joanne Chang and Chris Schlesinger.

Four separate styles of centerpieces adorned alternating tables, mimicking the color-scheme and theme from the reception.  Noteworthy details included playful Jester chair covers, feathered centerpieces which added height and color and miniature New Orleans street signs rounded out the extravagant decor.

Headlining entertainers Michael Franti and the Neville Brothers kept the crowd rocking on the packed dance floor all night long.

Masks and beads galore – it was a great BIG night!

Winter Cool at the InterContinental

We’re celebrating our 11th anniversary by sharing swanky decor photos from one of our recent events!

For a corporate client’s awards reception, we created a winter-chic wonderland at Boston’s InterContinental Hotel.  Using predominantly decor elements of silver, white and glowing blue, the otherwise warm ballroom turned into an icy-cool space for guests to mingle throughout the night.

Now we’re ready to break out the playful spring hues!

And the Award Goes to….

In the spirit of the season of recognition, last week we designed and produced an awards dinner for one of our local clients.  Guests arrived for the evening and entered into a foyer dressed to express the “chills of winter” with iridescent blue linens topped with glowing lanterns and washed in a crisp blue light.  When it was time for dinner the guests found themselves in a room aglow with the “warmth of a fire.”   Brown chivari chairs, crushed taffeta and cirque linens, menu cards and winter floral centerpieces enhanced the glowing room.  Add to that stage decor and a great lighting company and guests were awarded in sophisticated CE style!

Arriba! Welcome South of the Border

One of our most elaborate productions of the year, the 4th biennial Hoedown for Lovelane Special Needs Horseback Riding Program, was an intricate juggling act.  The biggest challenge: the event is produced on a field in Dedham where things like running water are luxuries!  We had to bring in everything from tents to toilets, decor to electricity.  But who doesn’t love a challenge?  And a challenge that is executed flawlessly (if we do say so ourselves) – that’s a great success!  From the start, a “South of the Border/Tex-Mex” theme was determined, setting an upbeat, colorful and fun tone for the night.

Despite less than ideal weather conditions, the week leading up to the Hoedown was spent erecting tents, bringing in generators, rigging lights and decorating the dinner tent and band tent.  Below you can see the dinner tent in the midst of set up.  We were all grateful not to be the lighting guys rigging lights in the halos with 80 mile per hour gusts of wind outside!

After a week of set up,  it was time for the guests to arrive – arriba, arriba!  Anticipation grew as guests drove through festive “billboard” signs either side of the road on the way to the party.  Guests were met by a roving mariachi band who serenaded them with upbeat, authentic tunes.   Carnival games were positioned along the perimeter of the cocktail area so guests could try their hand at lassoing a sombrero or custom balloon dart toss.  A green screen and the “sumptuous” salsa competition also kept guests engaged as they mingled with friends.

The iconic central decor piece was a gas station themed gazebo bar.   Complete with frozen margarita machines and an authentic 1950’s Ford pick-up truck – guests liberally enjoyed donated libations throughout the evening.  Both the dinner and band tents boasted colorful linens and festive centerpieces, including hot sauce bottles, succulents, sunflowers, gerber daisies and paper flowers in tomato cans.  Two bars inside the tent each had a different theme – one was adorned with various sized sombreros, while the other was decorated in assorted tin stars.  Colored string lights and bandannas strung from the eves of the tent completed the fiesta’s look.

The dinner portion of the evening was down-right delicious!  Guests noshed away on creative Southwestern fare.  Small plates were designed by over fifteen of the Boston area’s greatest celebrity chefs including Michael Schlow, Ming Tsai and Jeff Janowski of Blue Ribbon Barbecue, who brought in a pickled vegetable bar, a slew of condiments and the best chef’s decor!

Headlining act, Little Feat, closed the evening in great fun, as guests danced the night away to the band’s eclectic American folk/country/rock tunes.  If you weren’t there, you can check out all that you missed below and we hope we’ll see you at the next one!

The Luck of the Irish

Let’s face it, in this city there’s a little Irish in everyone!  Last week, we designed and managed a great Irish-themed farewell dinner for one of our corporate incentive programs.   For an intimate group of 30, the second floor of Solas Irish Pub located in the Lenox Hotel, was the ideal venue for their final dinner.

Guests were welcomed into a room aglow with candle light.  Tea lights, luminaries and white and green florals complimented the already existing Irish accents in the space, creating a warm and cozy environment for the diners.

After enjoying cocktails, an array of passed hors d’oeuvres and an overflowing raw bar of maritime delicacies, guests took their seats at three banquet tables set for ten.  A magician was on hand for the first hour of the evening, floating amongst the crowd, impressing and baffling guests with his slight of hand tricks.

Once seated, guests were able to select from a traditional Irish menu – Shepherd’s Pie, London Broil and Fish & Chips were the entree options for the evening.

Later in the night, the raw bar transitioned into a dessert station where guests could enjoy warm banana bread pudding and flourless chocolate cake with a whiskey sauce, mingle and dance the night away to the sounds of an Irish acoustic duo.