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There are many aspects that contribute to great entertaining, chief among them is the design of a truly special setting. Whether for an intimate gathering or a grand celebration, creativity and sensitivity are essential to creating memorable occasions. Here are a few that we orchestrated. Wish you could have been there!
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For an autumnal dinner to support scholarship programs at The School of American Ballet, we created the décor and were one of the sponsors. For the tables, we made lanterns using hand-made paper and branches. Beneath these rustic and elegant lanterns, we arranged golden apples geometrically on deep brown tablecloths. To learn more about this event, click here.
Photo by Mary Hilliard
“A Grand Tour” was the theme of the New York event to benefit Save Venice Inc. Held at the spectacular Metropolitan Club on November 6, 2006, White Webb designed the décor for the party. Here Matthew White, the event chair, introduces the entertainment to a glamorous crowd of Venice lovers. Click here to read more about the décor.
Photo by Mary Hilliard
Rather than flowers, White Webb created a more architectural theme for the tables. The towering Campaniles were lit from within while the imagery was taken from antique engravings in a technique Matthew White and Frank Webb employ for their Intaglio collection. Given the wonderfully excessive, gilded-age décor of the ballroom, the towering centerpieces provided a crisp counterpoint to the room.
Photo by Denise Crew
At the request of Architectural Digest and for the Nominee Reception preceding the 2006 Emmy Awards, we designed a lounge to showcase the stunning diamonds and time pieces by Piaget. The direction was to create a space that was glamorous and eye-popping, while enhancing it with our signature wit. For this star-studded, celebratory evening, we designed a surreal yet chic venue to display Piaget’s treasures.
Photo by Denise Crew
By creating a stark white background punctuated by black and white pieces inspired by our Intaglio collection, the pristine stage was set. To make the room pop, we styled live models to appear as living busts. Painted in bright turquoise with 18th century wigs these stunning creatures made the priceless diamonds all the more spectacular.
Photo by Denise Crew
For the Piaget lounge we created a “candelabra” centerpiece made from mannequin arms to display the precious jewels. Combined with the live models painted in matching turquoise blue, this focal point injected a touch of fantasy to the surrealistic setting.
Photo by Matthew White
We constructed many of the elements for the Piaget lounge in our design offices in California. Here is Frank Webb putting on the finishing touches for the eccentric display piece that held millions of dollars of Piaget diamonds.
Photo by Steven Nilsson
For a garden party during the Casanova in California Weekend to benefit Save Venice, we set up canopies so they would appear like gondolas on the sweeping lawn. Superb Venetian fare and waiters dressed as gondoliers enhanced the feeling of a regatta in Venice.
Photo by Steven Nilsson
For the Venetian garden party to benefit Save Venice, Matthew White designed and created a replica of the Royal Barge used by the King of Italy to enter Venice in the 19th century. This 20-foot model was created from old engravings of the period and held a small collection of Fortuny. The rest of this exceptional collection, owned by Keith McCoy, was displayed in the adjacent pool house.
Photo by Steven Nilsson
After a delicious lunch in the Venetian style, the waiters donned miniature gondolas laden with sweets. This event marked the close of a series of unforgettable parties, which raised funds to support art restoration in Venice. A success on every level, the Casanova in California Weekend was put on by the California Chapter of Save Venice and co-chaired and designed by Matthew White.
Photo by Jeff Oshiro
For the entrance to the Huntington Millennium Masquerade Ball, we designed a banquette with trompe l’œil tassel fringe and commissioned an artist to create an enormous caricature of the Blue Boy (the original is in the collection of The Huntington galleries). Other equally amusing caricatures were displayed throughout the dining room, creating the perfect setting for a boisterous New Year’s bash.
Photo by Jeff Oshiro
For the Huntington Millennium Masquerade Ball, we designed a tongue-in-cheek gilded age salon. This event was to celebrate the Boone Gallery, a superb new space designed exclusively for changing exhibitions at the Huntington Library, Botanical Gardens and Galleries in San Marino, California.
For The Garden Party to benefit Young and Healthy, the guests became the décor when we suggested that they wear white. This easy request made all those who attended feel as if they had been transported to a simpler and more elegant time. Young and Healthy provides free medical care for uninsured children in the Pasadena area.
Un Ballo in Maschera was an event that benefited Save Venice, and was the first gala put on by the California Chapter. We designed the party to have a single table that would seat 150 people. The result was a beautiful setting for an unforgettable party.
Guests attired in elaborate costumes and masks made the setting all the more magical when it was illuminated by candlelight. Over $100,000 was raised to restore the monumental arch in the Public Gardens of Castello in Venice, Italy.
At Un Ballo in Maschera, Neptune floated in the pool while revelers sipped coffee and nibbled biscotti, in a party that House Beautiful included, alongside Truman Capote’s Black & White Ball, in its Party Hall of Fame.
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