On July 27, hundreds of Boston’s best event planners, designers, photographers, and more joined PartySlate to celebrate summer in the chicest way possible. The party — produced by top planner Sara Kovel of Sara Kovel Events and David DiCicco with his skilled décor team at DiCicco Designs — was the perfect setting for the community to connect and inspire one another.
Premier event venue 9OFS provided the perfect setting for the creative theming dreamt up by the planning and design teams: the four elements. Kovel shares, “David and I brainstormed themes and he came up with ‘The Elements.’ The beauty of working with each other so frequently is that we are able to translate the most obscure idea the other has and understand what they mean. As David discussed his ideas, I could visualize what he was articulating.”
Dicicco adds, “Part of the goal was to create a space that felt centralized while being thematic. 9OFS has a beautiful pool and fountain feature expressing the water theme, wind up on the 9th floor for air, lawn and trees for earth — and I figured we could make the party as fire as possible without any real flames!” He also notes the meaning behind the event, saying, “The Boston events industry has not had the opportunity to party like this in years, and Sara and I wanted to focus the vibe around bringing the community together.”
A Glimpse of the Evening to Come
Guests were invited to PartySlate’s Boston celebration via a luxe digital invitation, custom-designed for the gathering by Fête Collection. The print and invitation designer nodded to the gathering’s theme with a beautifully-understated composition that included each element yet left the full theming as a surprise for guests upon arrival. We love their stylish palette of gold and clay.
Kovel says, “I had a conversation with Julie from Fête Collection who designed the invitations and all of the branding and said ‘Let’s play off of the element sun for the invite and think of the South of France in the summer vibes’ — which is how we landed on the invitation design and color scheme. The dance floor wrap, bar wrap, cotton candy wafer, and cocktail napkins were all variations of this design, and we added in other colors/elements”.
The team also designed the party’s printed materials which directed guests and honored event partners.
Design: Creative Theming & Dynamic Décor Evokes the Four Elements
Kovel created an evolving experience for guests as they roamed through the event. She says of her collaboration with DiCicco, “We both feel strongly that a killer event design also hinges on the overall experience. Having guests eat, drink, feel, and hear the elements didn’t feel forced, but it was planned. Spicy cocktails and windlike strings playing set the initial tone of the party.”
Invitees entered into The Gallery at 9OFS — one of the venue’s beautifully-customizable spaces in the heart of the city. The DiCicco team amped the inherent appeal of the space with luxe rentals from PEAK Event Services. Is it possible to be both glamorous and bohemian at the same time? Apparently it is, as the teams created a modern lounge space that included organic elements like wool and greenery as well as modern touches like glass and brass. The welcome space unfolded against a draped backdrop with a golden branded neon PartySlate sign.
The celebration continued in The Garden. Here, party-goers experienced each of the four elements rendered in vivid florals and themed service stations and lounge areas. DiCicco says, “Having each element in the four corners of the lawn with seating vignettes wrapped around the dance floor played off the sun-inspired invitation and kept the energy in one place…For me, designing a successful event is about considering how you want people to feel and not just what they see.”
He adds, “Once we had the feeling down, reflecting the theme in the décor was next. I began to conceptualize abstract installations for each element. I chose a different designer from my team to spearhead each look, based on their strengths as a designer and what element I thought emulated their personality. I shared inspiration images, the product I purchased, and had each person evolve the look as they imagined it. The end result was completely unique and collaborative and gave such a fun energy to the execution of it that was carried throughout the night!”
For each element, DesignLight constructed trusses and added creative lighting installations that married each design. White settees and glass and brass tables centered from PEAK Event Services each look and offered spaces for party-goers to lounge and connect with each other.
Fire
DiCicco Designs conjured orange and yellow celosia arranged in a riot of color and pattern that evoked a blaze of beauty. DesignLight drenched the scene in red and yellow lighting.
Earth
To create the grounding feeling of earth, the design team arranged branches, grapevine, and smilax for a graceful display of nature. Vibrant tropical green lighting accented the scene.
Water
Cascading blue delphinium spilled off of surfaces like rushing water in an undulating array by DiCicco Designs, around glass bubbles holding candles. DesignLight accented the aesthetic with dreamy blue lighting.
Air
Clouds of ethereal baby’s breath were curated by the design team to create a heavenly tableau of air. White uplighting created a glow while a pinpoint of lavender light drew our attention.
Entertainment: Smooth Beats & Dance Floor-Filling Tunes
Guests entered 9OFS’s luxurious indoor space to the soundtrack of smooth tunes being spun by DJ Valentina. The energetic and engaging DJ curated the perfect mix of tunes for a Boston summer night.
Outside, partygoers enjoyed the talent of Élan Artists. The Élan team oversaw every detail from production to AV — and then filled the stage with one great performance after another. They showcased a full range of mood-making acts, with full brass and strings sections offering depth and beauty, before ending with a full-on dance party.
DiCicco Designs added even more flair and fun on the dance floor with collapsible fans festooned with flowy dip-dyed fabrics in blue and red which guests waved around, creating a sort of live, immersive art installation. Speaking of the dance floor, it was epic. Inspired by the invitation design, it featured a custom wrap by SHOUT! with the PartySlate logo centering the action.
Partygoers who danced ‘til their feet hurt were grateful for the deep, dark leather lounge sofas with velvet and marble-print pillows from PEAK Event Services that circled the dance floor.
Guests also enjoyed interactive entertainment in the form of a 360-degree photo booth from Entertainment Specialists which captured gifs of partygoers dancing while a camera rotated around them. We loved the ease of getting our short videos airdropped to us the moment after they were captured.
Fresh Fare: Summer Bites Inspired by the Elements
Designer DiCicco says, “As Sara mentioned, the beauty of us working together is our divide-and-conquer approach when it comes to planning and design. While I focused on the décor, she took the theme and translated it into every other vendor’s piece — from the food and specialty drinks to the branded napkins, candy cotton, invitations, and even the attire inspiration!”
PartySlate’s catering partner for this epic celebration was the accomplished team at Capers Catering. They curated a menu of passed hors d’oeuvres and larger dishes served at stations that spoke directly (and deliciously) to the event’s theme.
Kevin Marsland, Jr., Executive Chef with Capers Catering, says, “Every food item needed to be something that we had never done before.” Capers has been around for 28 years, so that is quite a feat! He adds, “It’s very interesting to go outside of the box and also fit a theme. Like with passed hors d’oeuvres, we did a take on a rolled steak frite as a play on the fire element, served on a five-foot long red board. We had a raw station where we seared tuna sashimi on a Himalayan salt block — with the fresh fish representing water and dry ice adding atmosphere for air.”
He adds, “We also try to be thoughtful about including vegan fare. We did crudité in edible dirt with twelve surrounding dips in different colors. Colors are also really important to us because we create menus for so many different joyful events.”
Capers also cooked up interesting bites like traditional New England lobster rolls, but with Thai spice offering an unexpected flavor, and vegan Moroccan tagines served in mini copper pans. A station offered live fire-cooking and carving of steak, house-made bacon, smoked chicken sausage, and more served over Brazilian beans and rice. A trio of test-tube soup sips evoked flavors of watermelon, fire-roasted tomatoes, and green vegetables.
Guests enjoyed creative cocktails as well from Capers, like the Le Soleil (with tangerine syrup and juice, sparkling wine, Lillet Blanc and gin) and the Wild Berry and Thai Basil Lemonade. The sips were served on tap at chic mobile bars from Bubbles & Brews Massachusetts that featured PartySlate branding with the invitation suite’s sun design.
Additional bars served up any drink partygoers desired, including specialty cocktails like the Cloudy Sky, a classic daiquiri featuring white rum, lime juice, simple syrup, garnished with a puff of lime cotton candy from Le Petit Pouf. Servers also roamed with summer-perfect Boozy Freeze Pops.
Capers Catering elevated every bite and sip with dining rentals that included smoky gray glassware, horn-look serveware, and creamy gray plates, while MY DRAP wowed with PartySlate-branded sustainable cocktail napkins.
When it came time for dessert, guests enjoyed cotton candy in elegant flavors like marshmallow, coconut, and blue vanilla from Parisian-style carts from Le Petit Pouf. Capers made sweet bites easy for guests to enjoy with mango coconut panna cotta and cheesecakes served as push-pops. Passed frozen s’more bars and mini “Dove” bars were equally refreshing and delightful.
All of the Memories Made (& Captured)
It was an evening worth remembering — and we were lucky enough to have a duo of photographers beautifully capture the soirée: Luis Zepeda Photography & Gabrielle Wilde Photography. They shot gorgeous candid pictures of guests interacting and having fun, as well as of the breathtaking scene and every divine detail.
Moving images from SH Videography told the story of the celebration with a video that will remind the hundreds of guests of their good time (and will make those who weren’t there, wish they were).
And More Thanks
Producing a beautiful celebration — like PartySlate’s elements-inspired Boston gathering — requires a talented team of partners. In addition to the vendors listed above, we also want to thank the Muse by Rue for making us beautiful, and Weddings by Kashmir for our party-perfect hair. The two worked together to make sure that our PartySlate team looked (and felt) our absolute best.
We also want to express our gratitude to The Langham, Boston. The luxury hotel provided the PartySlate team with elegant surroundings (not to mention the views!) for our Boston stay. Additionally, The Langham played host for an afterparty in their swanky British-inspired cocktail bar, Fed, with craft cocktails and elevated pub fare.
For this celebration, PartySlate was lucky enough to have two amazing photographers. Both event albums are worth a scroll to get a feeling of the whole fantastic summer soirée:
host: PartySlate
photographer: Luis Zepeda Photography & Gabrielle Wilde Photography
venue: 9OFS
planning & design: Sara Kovel Events
décor, design & floral: DiCicco Design
caterer: Capers Catering
rentals, staging & dance floor: PEAK Event Services
entertainment: Élan Artists
DJ: DJ VALENTINA
photobooth: Entertainment Specialists
lighting: DesignLight
cotton candy carts: Le Petit Pouf
mobile bar cart: Bubbles & Brews Massachusetts
invitations & signage design: Fete Collection
videography: SH Videography
dance floor wrap: SHOUT!
host hotel & afterparty host: The Langham, Boston
hair for PartySlate team: Weddings by Kashmir
makeup for PartySlate team: Muse by Rue
custom cocktail napkins: MY DRAP