OM in the Wild – a musical debut on NYC’s Upper West Side

The assignment:

an elegant evening for a debut in black and orange

 

The goal:

avoid a Halloween-y look

 

Tricks to pulling off the look:

1. Highlight the company’s logo

2. Use several shades of orange with deliberate pops of black

3. Details, details, details

 

Drawing inspiration from the logo

The logo for Fourth Wall Ensemble is a black and white square, and the company selected orange to accompany black and white as the official colors.  I wanted every aspect of the design to be intentional, so choosing squares over circles and using cubes whenever possible became ways to incorporate the logo into the design.  There were so many ways to choose squares over circles in creating the look – the food risers, platters, cookies, pins, donation cards, and even the plates were square-shaped. I also wanted to draw inspiration from the event’s invite which featured a dramatic orange sash.   It was easy to add drama to several aspects of the look by “throwing” orange sashes on the tables and other surfaces to tie the look together.  I also incorporated the drama of the sash into the florals by having the flowers move (fall) dramatically outside of their container and spill onto the table- my favorite detail of all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using orange with deliberate black  

Given that the event took place just days before Halloween, I wanted to be extremely intentional with the color choices to avoid a Halloween feel completely.  This was accomplished by using many many shades of orange (especially for the florals).  I took liberties with my definition of orange and used shades ranging from light peach to brown.  The varied shades not only added elegance to the florals but avoided a solid orange hue which would take the look more towards Halloween.  For other items like the table sashes and cookie box ribbons, I was careful to lean more towards terracotta and steer clear of pumpkin orange.  For the black, I wanted to work with items that were already prominent in the environment (the piano, wrought iron of the front door) and add small touches here and there (candlesticks, napkins, the OM team attire, a few platters, etc.)

 

 

 

 

Details, details, details

An entire team of people put thought and effort into every single detail of the event. The chef incorporated fall flavors and shades of orange into each of the six dishes created exclusively for the event.  Each “bite” could be consumed without using utensils or creating crumbs and looked stunning on the black, square-shaped plates selected for the event (the appropriately colored gourmet chocolates and macarons looked stunning as well).   The bartender created a signature cocktail featuring the flavors (and colors) of fall that was served to each guest in square-shaped glassware. The hosts graciously opened up their beautiful Upper West Side home to provide a venue for the night.  Together, each detail made for a magical setting that was perfect for the Fourth Wall Ensemble to make its NYC debut!