Nothing like a white canvas venue takeover to make our little event planner hearts happy.
We did it for Shiseido last summer for their FIT 3.0 conference, and we did it again for our friends at bareMinerals for their annual Global Conference.
The catch? We had exactly nineteen days to execute – with eight of those days on site at another event series in another state + time zone.
Chaos seems to suit us, so we weren’t about to take a knee on this one-of-a-kind branded experience for bareMinerals, celebrating 25 years of their Original Foundation. This week we’re taking you on an exclusive behind the scenes tour of our latest event activation. Come on in!
Guest Arrival
We branded the outside of our venue, Studio 525 in New York City, with bareMinerals and their sister brand BUXOM’s logos, so that everyone who entered had no doubt in their minds that they were in the right place — plus a little window frosting to keep everything a private affair.
This time around, we surprised guests right from the get-go with a very special interactive photo moment with a literal wall of champagne. Each guest could strike a pose against a wall of fresh greenery that perfectly fit with bareMinerals clean beauty mission before grabbing a glass of bubbly to kick off the event.
We’re a sucker for guest experiences, and we always go the extra mile to pull off statement pieces like this. This entire 8 by 8 foot set-up, which was custom fit to the alcove in the event space, required 80 champagne flutes — specially sourced to fit into the display — and 4 wooden panels holding 20 glasses each, stained to match the tables in the dining room. Not only that, but in order to hold the glasses, which matched the rest of the evening’s glassware, we had to get specialty holes drilled into the panels. P.S. Faux isn’t in our vocabulary. Even though the wall was a hedge style filler, all the greenery cascading over the full space of this champagne wall – floor to ceiling, was real – and smelled amazing.
Dinner By the Water
A waterfront dinner is 100% on-point for a natural beauty brand like bareMinerals, but how did we bring a serene, ocean view into the city that never sleeps? We lit up a 40’ long by 16’ high wall and laced two images together using projection mapping. How is that for making waves?
Part of the magic of a white canvas venue is getting to pick out every single detail by hand. Last time we set the table for bareMinerals, we captured the sky with blue glassware. This time, we completed our seaside experience with blue table chargers, rippled glass salad plates and iridescent dinner plates that resembled a seashell. Of course, we had to do our rental sourcing as a bit of a speed-run, but it was worth it to be able to hand pick our entire table setting, from every fork and linen to our custom vases.
If you haven’t heard of bareMinerals’ Full of/Free of campaign, you should check out the launch event we did for them last summer in London. We love finding new ways to implement this fun phrase into our details. In the case of this event, we brought in these beautiful flower vases all over the venue. Inside, we placed white flowers with a little touch of blush — an appropriate nod to BUXOM.
The final touch to our dinner by the water was personalized name cards, written in calligraphy on delicate seed paper. We’ll ‘dig’ into the 411 on the seed paper below.
The Photo Op Room
Guest experiences galore! Just off to the side of the dining room, we set up a space that housed all the fun. The bareMinerals Power of Good logo overlooked the room, adorned with a sparse arrangement of fresh greenery spilling over their vases. Furnished with cloud-inspired soft seating, this space celebrated bareMinerals by allowing guests to interact with the brand one-on-one.
Guests pinned up well-wishes to their teams and to the company on the same seed paper we used for the table name cards. To demonstrate the Power of Good, each of the seed cards were planted back into the ground by Grow NYC after the event.
Next, guests could pose for another photo-op with a special photo booth that created printed photos as well as “boomerangs” for posting on social media. The best part about it? The photo booth allowed guests to choose from either the bareMinerals or BUXOM branding on the image, so everyone in attendance was able to rep’ their team. Oh and did we mention some digital confetti?
To finish off with something sweet, attendees could munch on ombre macaroons that showcased the many shades of bareMinerals Original Foundation, which was on display throughout the room. Displayed on a branded pedestal, a gorgeous birthday cake with a container of bareMinerals’ original foundation perching effortlessly on top doubled as a focal point of the room.
The BUXOM Bar
If you remember our bareMinerals Global event from last year, you know what a challenge it was to combine bareMinerals simple, natural elegance with BUXOM’s bold style. They are two powerhouse brands with their own unique voices, but on events like these when they join together, it is up to us at Team Ellie to find some common ground.
First, we gave BUXOM the space to be themselves with a statement wall decal in their best selling shade — Dolly. The wall behind the bar was decorated with lip-shaped mirrors meant to bring the BUXOM brand to life without outshining their host. Our specialty cocktail, Dolly’s Berry Bellini, added another splash of pink to the evening, with a silver sugar-covered rim as a reminder of bareMinerals Silver Anniversary. All the drinks were served on custom BUXOM napkins, which were also served during passed hors d’oeuvres to create a cohesive cocktail hour.
Whether attendees were dining by the water or having fun during cocktail hour, with every corner they turned, our guests were greeted with an on brand experience that breathed new life into a beloved brand. We loved helping you celebrate, bareMinerals!
Need a team with the experience to execute world-class affairs in record time without skipping a beat? Let us help you make waves at your next event.
Event Photography by Jenna Boscom Photography.