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CHATTER the box
A Quick Word From Our Clients
“Thank you all very much for your efforts!! The event was great — everyone really had a terrific time and the setting and decorations were great. And the pictures are beautiful!” —Todd from Globan “Thank you, Angela and Amelia for the great work you and your team did on making this inaugural Equity Alliance Summit a success. We are all so grateful for your dedication, and cannot wait to work with you again next year!” —Claude from Equity Alliance “I loved working with Eric and the team in Michigan and hope we meet again someday!” —Dan T. from Terpstra Photography
COSTUMES AREN’T JUST FOR HALLOWEEN
Picture attending a birthday party in a private lounge where all of the guests are dressed like burlesque stars in feathers and lace. You sit down to an eight-course meal in a dark, foggy grotto and enjoy entertainment from living wax angels, a human absinthe fountain, and erotic poetry typewriters between courses.
How Dressing Up Unlocks Imagination
Finally, imagine the best corporate Halloween party of all time with a theme like “Space Odyssey” or “Midnight Circus.” Everyone attending lets their inner child shine, wandering through psychedelic
a single night, you can become a superhero, a sports star, a famous celebrity, or a cartoon character. It’s a wonderful way to have fun and push your imagination to its limits. As a kid I was fortunate that my parents allowed me to celebrate Halloween and the Jewish holiday of Purim, when I dressed up as different characters from the Purim story. I got to step into the shoes of someone else not just once a year, but twice! Those were formative experiences, and I think of them often when I’m planning events with my team that draw on the creative, mysterious power of costumes. Asking everyone attending an event to dress to a theme is a fantastic way to unite people from all cultures and walks of life. Masks, capes, glitter, and makeup even the playing field, creating an inspiring, inclusive, exciting environment where anything can happen. The best part is that you don’t have to wait for Halloween to come around: You can leverage the power of costumes at a corporate event, birthday party, or nonprofit gala at any point throughout the year. Imagine stepping into an underground cavern for a corporate event that’s part prohibition speakeasy and part live performance art piece, with a mad scientist bar and molecular gastronomy station. Everyone on staff is in costume, lending an air of mystery to the already one-of-a-kind-experience. Throughout the night you add accessories to your outfit, slowly joining the story being told.
If you grew up in an apartment building like me, then you know there is no better time to be an “apartment kid” than Halloween. Every Oct. 31, my family’s building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan transformed into my very own haunted house. My friends and I pulled on our costumes, grabbed our candy buckets, and raced up and down the stairs all night long. We charged from door to door to collect as much candy as we could, dodging the fake spiderwebs and piles of pumpkins our neighbors used for decoration. It was a thrilling experience because we never knew what kind of monster we might see around the next corner. Would it be a simple ghost made from a white bedsheet? An elaborate Frankenstein’s monster with bright green skin and shiny bolts poking from his knuckles? Or a realistic Dracula complete with widow’s peak hairdo and blood-dripping fangs? We could only find out by holding our collective breath and plunging ahead. Looking back, the adults in my building did an amazing job of setting the tone for the holiday. They created a magical environment outside of our usual big-city reality, and we entered that environment by pulling on our costumes. In just a few minutes, I could become a player from the New York Knicks or a character from “The Simpsons.” Whether you’re a child or an adult, dressing up is empowering. It inspires you to think about yourself in a different way. For
passageways and moshing to artists like Busta Rhymes and Rick Ross. Fire erupts from the stage, and 3,000 people cheer in unison.
Those are all events my team and I have designed for clients over the years. Each one relied on costumes. Each one told a story and invited attendees into another world
beginning with the very first invitation. When those invites arrived, our clients’ guests were already living, breathing, and imagining the world they would step into. Their anticipation added to the mystique, making the act of entering that new world even more memorable. (Turn the page to step into those worlds yourself.) In a way, these events are like my childhood Halloweens on a grander scale. Instead of transforming a 12-floor apartment building for a gang of 8-year- old city kids, we’re reshaping reality in entire London underground stations or abandoned warehouses. As on Halloween, guests at these events never know what excitement is lurking around the corner — and that keeps them coming back for more.
- Liron David Founder and Executive Producer
Case Study
A Night Guests Won’t Forget
the Village Underground — an old underground station transformed into a “Midnight Hour” extravaganza.
You’ve been asked to attend an event in London put on by the consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser (RB). You expect a dull corporate party with the same canapes and soft jazz you’ve suffered through a dozen times this year — until your invitation arrives in the mail. “They say that there is only one beast, only one that howls in the woods by night …” the filigreed invitation reads. “We invite you into our world, as fragile as the wings of a butterfly and as transient as examining magic in the afternoon sun, dispersing into a billion little pieces right in front of your eyes.” Excitement tingles up your spine. The invitation offers “wonder, decadence, gluttony, and delight.” Maybe this isn’t the boring cocktail hour you’ve resigned yourself to. A week later, you step onto a double-decker bus that transports you through the swirling lights of the city and descend into
experienced CEOs to a level playing field. Together, 20-year- olds and 60-year-olds dressed up as their favorite characters from “Star Wars” and watched Wyclef Jean, DJ Otto Knows, and some of hip-hop’s most iconic artists like Busta Rhymes and Rick Ross perform on stage at the ornate Hammerstein Ballroom. Eventique leverages theme, costume, and performance to create incredible events that wow attendees for years to come. Want to make your holiday party one for the books? Visit Eventique.com today to request a proposal that will blow your mind.
“When you get guest participation in the theme, it’s another way of bridging the gap between attendees and the entertainers that are part of the event,” explains Eric Weilander, Eventique’s VP of creative and strategy. “Those elements almost become gelled together when everyone is looking and feeling in a similar fashion.” For the RB event, guests slowly built their costumes throughout the night, but asking attendees to arrive in costume can extend the magic and build anticipation before they even arrive. Eventique took advantage of this while designing a private birthday party in New York City’s Ascent Lounge. Guests were asked to arrive in costume for an edgy, unforgettable night of burlesque performances and provocative, enticing entertainment, enjoyed between bites of an eight-course meal. The long dinner table led directly to the stage, and the blood red curtains, scarlet candelabras, and halved pomegranates scattered down the red velvet tablecloth set the scene. Aerial opera singers, contortionists, snake charmers, and acrobats drew the guests’ eyes, pinning them to their seats with delight. “When our guests look back on a night like that and think about what they experienced, they will want to experience it over and over — but really, it’s just for one night. They can never have it again,” Liron says. “There’s something beautiful about an event as fragile as the wings of a butterfly, flirting with you. There’s a joy that comes from experiencing that type of environment and knowing you can never re-create it.” Costumes can create that memorable moment, inviting guests to step into another world. At the Brickworks Design Studio: New York City Launch event, Eventique doubled down on a 1920s theme by putting staff in flapper dresses to take guests back in time. At a Veris Residential event, attendees dressed as if they were strolling through Wynwood Arts District in Miami, putting their best high-fashion streetwear on display. For We Work’s Halloween parties — two events that Liron describes as “Burning Man meets EDM meets a winter music conference in NYC” — themes like “Space Odyssey” and “Midnight Circus” brought brand-new startup founders and
For the next few hours, you lose yourself in the cavernous brick space, imbibing smoking alchemic cocktails from the “Mad Scientist Bar,” savoring molecular gastronomy, and watching dancers twist and tumble on stage. Someone hands you an elaborate plague-era mask painted in gold, and you eventually stumble out of the underground pleasantly tipsy, half in costume, and with magic thrumming through your veins. For Liron David and his team at Eventique, who produced the Midnight Hour event for RB in 2016, theme and costume are the keys to unlocking imagination and bringing guests together — not just on Halloween, but year-round.
Meet Our In-House Costume Expert
and inclusion and loves working on virtual events because of the creative freedom and eco-friendly experience they offer. “We brainstorm these outrageous ideas of what can happen in a space, then work with a 3D designer to bring those visuals to life,” Kelly says, discussing SEPHORiA. “This year we created a crystal beaded curtain entrance and huge neon letters that attendees could actually walk inside of to play games.” Thanks to Kelly’s creative virtual environments, brands can deliver the magic of Halloween to their customers, employees, and influencer partners year-round.
JUST WRAPPED
KELLY’S JOURNEY FROM HALLOWEEN MASTERMIND TO VIRTUAL EVENT PLANNER
that she recommends everyone consider when planning Halloween or event looks: “First, cardboard and felt are your best friends. Those are great materials to use to shape your costume and then cover it to get the effect you’re going after. You can make anything from fairy wings to a McDonald’s fry carton. Second, the thrift store is also your best friend. If you’re in need of a blue dress for a Cinderella costume, for example, head to the thrift store, and you can probably find something for $5. Then stop at the craft store for appliques to dress it up.” These days Kelly doesn’t flex her costume muscles often. She works remotely for Eventique from London and specializes in virtual events. The same creativity and eye for aesthetics that helped her create 300 Halloween costumes have made her a fantastic spatial designer. Kelly put her skills to work for Sephora’s 2021 and 2022 “SEPHORiA: House of Beauty” virtual events and has created virtual spaces for other Eventique clients like Bare Minerals. She enjoys these brands’ emphasis on diversity
3 Successful Events Large and Small
Welcome to “Just Wrapped,” a monthly summary of what our team has been up to. Every year, we plan events like corporate parties, virtual experiences, concerts, and charity galas. This list is just a small peek behind the curtain. Seramount Multicultural Women’s National Conference 2022 — This two-day conference was a high-level, hybrid event hosted in New York City and online. It brought together “mid- to senior-level multicultural women, women in tech careers, DEI practitioners, and HR professionals” for a series of speaking events, leadership development workshops, networking opportunities, and more. Eventique stepped in to produce an exciting, livestreamed award show program starring Fortune 500 companies supporting multicultural women. It was a seamless success. SK Siltron CSS Ribbon Cutting — When your company plans to revolutionize the auto industry, a ribbon cutting of a new facility is serious business. That’s why the South Korean silicon carbide wafer and epitaxy service company SK siltron css brought in Eventique to orchestrate the unveiling of its new factory in Bay City, Michigan, this summer. The event included a hard hat tour, ribbon cutting, and speech from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The new SK siltron css building is one of several factories planned for automotive industry regions across the U.S. Globant Ambassador Dinner — This intimate dinner at Rye, New York’s historic Wainwright House featured world-renowned chef Francis Mallman and his theatrical open-style flames. Eventique designed the event, which was hosted by the IT and software development company Globant, for an exclusive guest list including former and current ambassadors from the U.S. and Argentina.
In the lead-up to Halloween, millions of people sit down at their laptops, pull up Google, and type in “Halloween costume ideas.” You’ve probably done it yourself — and in the process, you may have come across a design masterminded by Eventique Creative Director Kelly Bryden.
In a previous life, Kelly worked as an art director for a media company, and fall was one of her busiest seasons.
“I wrote a bunch of DIY articles and probably created over 100 different Halloween costumes every year for three years!” Kelly says. “If you search on Pinterest, you’ll find a lot of my Halloween costume creations.” She still treasures her “chicken and waffles” costume, which featured a waffle-patterned dress and fairy wings DIYed to look like crispy, delicious chicken. Another favorite was the “beach” costume — a bodysuit decorated as a beach scene on one side and a palm tree on the other, complete with leaf crown. Kelly wasn’t always a costume expert. She recalls one unseasonably warm fall during her childhood in New Jersey where she dressed up as a “purple people eater,” and disaster ensued. “I covered myself in purple face paint and just sweated it all off! Everything I touched was covered in purple. It was a mess,” she says. Since then, she’s learned two key things about costume design
Kelly at a Glance Favorite Album: “Lemonade” by Beyonce Go-to Restaurant in New York City: Tacombi Recommended Stop in London: Hijingo, a “multi-sensory bingo experience” Hobbies: Dancing, traveling, DIYing, and crafting Favorite Travel Destination: Cape Town, South Africa
Recent Movie Pick: “Where the Crawdads Sing” Big Dream: Buy and design a boutique hotel
Want your upcoming event to be next on our list? Request a proposal from our all-star team at Eventique.com.
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4 2 Inside
Liron Discusses the Power of Costume
The Magic Your Next Event Needs
6 7
Meet Our In-House Costume Expert
Our Monthly Event Rundown
How (and Why) to Give Out Swag Bags A Halloween-Inspired Idea to Use at Home
gifts are examples of small-scale “swag.” They boost attendee engagement and make the event more memorable.
You may think the best part of Halloween is dressing up, watching “Friday the 13th,” or rocking out to “Monster Mash” on repeat. But for many people, the holiday highlight is the bag of delicious candy they take home at the end of the night. Everyone loves free gifts, especially if they’re useful or tasty — and the wonder of that pillowcase filled with candy lives on in event “swag bags” for adults.
You can use this tactic at the next event you plan, whether it’s a baby shower, dinner party, or charity fundraiser. Choose a gift and offer it to guests either before, during, or after the gathering. BizBash reports that by giving early, you can build anticipation for your event and “extend the experience” beyond the day of. Handing out swag at the door works well if the gift is something they can use at the event — like a custom mug for the espresso bar or a personalized wine charm for their champagne class. Post-event, swag will “keep the conversation alive” and remind attendees of their experience. Still not sure what to give? Eventique Production Manager Cara Berger has found one category of gift rises above the rest. “Any sort of tech-based swag can help your attendee at home, in the office, or on the road,” she says. “Easy access to emails and the web makes working more efficient. Consider gifting swag like a portable charger or dual USB port.” The swag you give out doesn’t have to be expensive, but even if it is, the positive impact will likely outweigh the cost.
Think about the last wedding you attended. If you were a member of the bridal party, you might have gone home with a monogrammed
flask or necklace with your name on it. As a guest, perhaps you
were invited to stash a custom cookie in your purse or take home a succulent from the table. These personalized
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